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 e are now on ScotCat, just one short of 300 factsheets over the last 24 years from 1997 to 2021, and so to the month of May 2021 we take a look at the African catfish family, Schilbeidae and a small but easily kept glass cat species Parailia pellucida. This genera differs from the Asian Glass catfish of the Siluridae, Kryptopterus, by having no dorsal fin, whereas the Asian Glass cats do.

Parailia pellucida

The Parailia genus contains five species: P. congica Boulenger, 1899, the type genus, P. occidentalis (Pellegrin, 1901), P. somalensis (Vinciguerra, 1897), P. spiniserrata Svensson, 1933, and of course our catfish of the month Parailia pellucida. They all inhabit a vast amount of waters in West Africa with P. somalensis being the exception in East Africa.

Parailia pellucida - shoal or school

This is not a very common species in your local aquatic shop but they are very abundant in the wild and are exported on occasions, and if you have a large tank and are looking for a species that swims in the upper layers of your aquarium they will do the job admiringly, but be aware that you will need to buy at least half a dozen or preferably more of these glass cats as they will not survive very long on their own as they need company to form schools as they do in their natural habitats.

I personally house a shoal of them in a 6ft tank alongside other African glass cats such as the common "Debawi cats" which mostly composes of the Pareutropius genera, buffei or sometimes the more rarer debawi. They will all school together with no problem and are a delight to watch at feeding time.

Distrbution: Africa: Nile River, Chad Basin, several west African river basins. Type locality: Omdurman, Nile River.

Glass schilbid

Parailia congica, Physaillia pellucida, Physailia pellucida

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Africa: Nile River, Chad Basin, several west African river basins. Type locality: Omdurman, Nile River.

12.0cm. (4¾ins)

25-28°C (77-83°F)

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 0; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 60 - 78; Vertebrae: 44 - 50. Dorsal fin absent; adipose fin always present; inner side of pectoral-fin spine variably denticulate, with small to rather well developed serrations; 60-78 soft rays in anal fin. Vomerine teeth present.

As with other members of this genus it will fare better in a school of at least four to six specimens and a good filtration with good water quality. Provide some plants and a low light to the aquarium.

Oviparous, eggs are unguarded. One report in 1977 by Lauster on a chance finding of 8 fry appearing among the Java fern.

Males have a genital papillae which is cylindrical to conical. The females has this short and withdrawn into the body, with a broad pore at its tip.

In its natural habitat, feeds mainly on small planktonic and benthic insects and crustaceans. In the aquarium, small live foods such as artemia, mosquito larvae (frozen) and a good quality flake food.

Adipose fin: Fleshy finlike projection without rays, behind the rayed dorsal fin.
Anal fin: The median, unpaired, ventrally located fin that lies behind the anus, usually on the posterior half of the fish.
Dorsal fin: The primary rayed fin(s) on top of the body.
Melanophores: The pigment cells that permit colour change, and the concentration of pigment granules within these cells determine the type of colour that is produced.
Pectoral fin: The paired fins just behind the head.
Vomerine teeth: Teeth present on the vomer which is the anterior bone in the mid-line of the roof of the mouth.

pellucida: From the Latin "pellucidus" (translucent, transparent), referring to the translucent body in live individuals of this "glass catfish"

Baensch, H.A. and R. Riehl 1985 Aquarien atlas. Band 2. Mergus, Verlag für Natur- und Heimtierkunde GmbH, Melle, Germany. 1216 p.
De Vos, L., 1995. Results of a systematic revision of African schilbeids at the species level. p.113-364. In L. De Vos. A systematic revision of the African Schilbeidae (Teleostei, Siluriformes) with an annotated bibliography, Chapter 3. Ann. Mus. R. Afr. Centr. Zool. vol. 271.
Ferraris, C.J. Jr., 2007. Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types. Zootaxa 1418:1-628.
Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2019. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, ( 12/2019 ).
IUCN. 2020. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2020-2. Available at: www.iucnredlist.org. (Accessed: 13 June 2020).
Seegers, L. 2008 The catfishes of Africa. A handbook for identification and maintenance. Aqualog Verlag A.C.S. GmbH, Germany. 604 p.

Photo Credits

© Johnny Jensen @  
Map: Google maps 2021.