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 hen we think, talk or discuss about parasitic or candiru catfishes we think of the worst, with them entering, probably by mistake, the urethra of mammals urinating under water and entering gill chambers of larger catfishes, but actually this little catfish does not present much of a problem in aquaria as long as there is guidelines followed.

Tridentopsis brevis

English aquarist Adrian Taylor has kept this little catfish and the following abstract is the response to my questioning. "I did keep T. Brevis, as they came in as a contaminant of an import of cardinal tetras from South America. The retailer that I purchased the fish from mentioned that he had had them in before in amongst cardinals but only ever in the ones and two's. I kept them in a 16ins x 8ins x 8ins with some Aspidoras, were I never noticed the Aspidoras in an unhealthy condition or any wounds on them and they seemed quite happy to feed on live foods such as small bloodworm and live baby brine. After a couple of months they were never seen in the tank at feeding or free swimming as they would bury themselves in the sand. They were kept in a P.H.of around 6.8, with a temperature of around 73f".

Tridentopsis brevis - head view

This is not the most appealing looking catfish being quite plain in appearance but never the less so little is known about this genera and other smaller parasitic catfishes that in itself would appeal to the quirky world of catfish keepers.

Dwarf Parasitic Catfish, Glass Candiru, Glass Parasitic Catfish

Tridens brevis, Tridentsimilis brevis

Tridentinae

South America: Brazil: Amazon River basin. Type locality: Tabatinga (Brazil).

3.0cm. (1¼ins)

21-28°c (69-83°f.)

6.0-7.0.

Body short and deep. Head as broad as long. Mouth broad, inferior. Opercle with a bunch of six or more spines. Barbels well developed, the outer one extending to the base of the pectoral, the inner to the gill-opening. Eye large, nearer end of opercle than tip of snout. Distance of dorsal fin from tip of caudal little more than 2cm in length. Anal fin inserted very little in front of the dorsal and extending some distance beyond it, its rays decreasing in height toward the caudal. First pectoral ray greatly reduced. Caudal emarginate.

Yellowish; blackish dots along the bases of the fins; a series of blackish dots along the middle line of the sides, similar spots on the back. Head with brown dots.

Does not seem to be problematic in its care. Can be housed with small fish, with probably cardinal or neon tetras as upper layer fish.

Not recorded.

Not recorded

Will take most prepared aquarium foods such as frozen small frozen bloodworm, live baby brine shrimp, Daphnia and mosquito larvae.

Anal fin: The median, unpaired, ventrally located fin that lies behind the anus, usually on the posterior half of the fish.
Caudal fin: The tail.
Dorsal fin: The primary rayed fin(s) on top of the body.
Emarginate: Concave; used to describe the posterior border of a caudal fin which is inwardly curved; a caudal fin with a slightly concave margin.
Opercle: The bony covering of the gills of fishes.
Pectoral fins: The paired fins just behind the head.

Tridentopsis: Greek, tres tria = three + Latin, dens = teeth. –opsis, appearance, referring to similarity to the closely related Tridens.
brevis: The specific name of brevis: short, referring to short and deep body, shorter than Tridens melanops, its presumed congener at the time.

Adrian Taylor Pers. comm. May 2020.
Datovo A, Ochoa L, Vita L, Presti P, Ohara WM, de Pinna MCC. A new genus and species of miniature tridentine catfish from the Amazon basin (Siluriformes: Trichomycteridae). Neotrop Ichthyol. 2023; 21(3).
Eigenmann, C. H. and R. S. Eigenmann 1889 (18 Aug.) Preliminary notes on South American Nematognathi. II. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences (Series 2) v. 2: 28-56.
Ferraris, C.J. Jr., 2007. Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types. Zootaxa 1418:1-628.
Fish in the News
Riehl, R. and H.A. Baensch 1996 Aquarien Atlas, Band 1.10th edition. Mergus Verlag GmBH, Melle, Germany. 992 p.

Photo Credits

First image: © Allan James @ 
Second image: © Adrian Taylor
Map: www.britannica.com