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ne of my catfish obsessions seems to be with Aussie cats, they are certainly not main stream when catish in general are discussed but I just like their overall shape, as long as you look out for the sharp dorsal spine that is!. So this month we look at a member of the Plotosidae family which generally come from Australia and also New Guinea and this species is the smallest in the Porochilus genera and although not very common they would make an ideal aquarium or pond (in warm countries) inhabitant, so step forward "Obbes' catfish", Porochilus obbesi.

Porochilus obbesi

Porochilus obbesi is quite a small species at around 10cm SL. (4ins) which is highly unusual for this family, and they are not all too common in their natural habitats of the Northern Territory of Australia, and known only from Yam Creek (Daly River system), Fish Creek (East Alligator River system), Burton's Creek of the Finnis River drainage of the NT, and the Wenlock and Jardine rivers near the tip of Cape York Peninsula (Qld). In Southern New Guinea where the type locality is based you can find them from the Fly River to the Timika region, Papua Province (Indonesia). It was fairly common in the Fly river system but with mining in that region their population has now seriously declined. In the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species they report that there are no major threats for this species and as such have labeled it as of "Least Concern".

The Porochilus genera can be separated from the Neosilurus genus by the eye being closer to the mouth, steeper head up to the insertion of the dorsal fin and the inner side of the pectoral spine being serrated. At the moment (2020) there are four species in this genus, with two of them described by Weber, Porochilus obbesi Weber, 1913, Porochilus argenteus (Zietz 1896), Porochilus meraukensis (Weber, 1913), and Porochilus rendahli (Whitley, 1928) factsheet March 2009.

Porochilus obbesi - juvenile

The image above shows a juvenile of Porochilus obbesi which was one of the offspring of Dave Wilson of Aquagreen.com a website based in Australia which is an Aquaculture facility located at Howard Springs in the Northern Territory. He provides Australian Native plants and fish to the Aquarium trade in his native country. They breed in his ponds, but not in high numbers, and provides them to the aquarium trade.

Obbes' catfish

None

-

Oceania: Central-southern New Guinea and northern Australia. Type Locality: Lorentz River at Sabang, New Guinea.

10cm SL. (4ins)

20-30°C (67-87°F)

D I, 4-5; C, D, A 109-123; P I, 7-9; vertebrae 43 to 45. Body elongate, slender, laterally compressed and tapering posteriorly; head broad and flattened but relatively small; eye moderately sized and anteriorly positioned; mouth with jaw teeth; upper lip perforated by the front nostrils opening downwards; lateral line discontinuous; four pairs of nasal barbels. Scales absent, covered in smooth skin. Small anterior dorsal fin supported by one sharp, non-serrated spine with 4 or 5 soft rays; second dorsal and anal fins confluent with caudal fin, with 109-123 soft rays; caudodorsal fin base less than 10% of SL. The Porochilus genera can be separated from the Neosilurus genus by the eye being closer to the mouth, steeper head up to the insertion of the dorsal fin and the inner side of the pectoral spine being serrated.

Grey to light yellowish brown, often with silvery sheen; fins yellowish or tan. Often features 1-2 narrow whitish mid-lateral stripes.

Seem to like the company of their own species. They also like plants to hide in, water sprite and pogo seem  to be well appreciated. In rocky tanks they often bash their noses when they get stressed and dart about. It is occasionally found in the aquarium trade but the individuals are mostly from captive breeding. An ideal candidate for a native aquarium due to its small size and can quite happily be kept in a group. Provide a good plant growth.

Have been bred in ponds with scant information but will breed like most members of this family with them being egg scatterers, and with the male looking after the eggs. In there natural habitat they will breed in the early wet season (December-January) and the parents and juveniles will migrate back upstream into refuge creeks.

Not known.

Feeds on insects, prawns and mollusks.

Dorsal fin: The primary rayed fin(s) on top of the body.
Lateral line: A sensory line, along the sides of the body.
Nasal Barbels: On top of the head, by the nostrils. (nasal barbels).
Pectoral fins: The paired fins just behind the head.

Porochilus: Holed lip (refers to position of nostrils).
obbesi: After Obbes.

Allen, G.R., Midgley, S.H. & M. Allen. 2002. Field Guide to the Freshwater Fishes of Australia. Western Australian Museum. Pp. 394.
Allen, G.R., Storey A.W., Yarrao, M. 2008 Freshwater Fishes of the Fly River, Papua New Guinea. Quality Press, Osborne Park, Western Australia. Pp. 216.
Dave Wilson @ aquagreen.com
fishesofaustralia.net.au
Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2008.FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version (11/2008).
Martin F. Gomon, Porochilus obbesi in Fishes of Australia, accessed 25 Aug 2020.

Photo Credits

© Dave Wilson @
Map: Google maps 2020
Wikipedia: 2020.