Bebe mormyrid

Care at a glance

Overview

A big, gentle, electrically sensitive fish that needs a very large, calm, established system. It is best kept singly, as it does not tolerate its own kind well, and any tankmates must be chosen with caution: peaceful, too large to eat, and not fin-nippers or boisterous feeders. Give it a deep, soft sand bed to sift, hiding places among wood, and dim, stable, spotless water. Feed meaty sinking foods such as bloodworm, earthworm, and prawn, ideally after dark. At around half a metre long it needs floor space to match, on the order of 1000 liters or more.

In the wild

Hyperopisus bebe ranges across the Sahelian and Sudanic rivers of northern Africa, from the Senegal and Niger to the Chad and Nile basins, cruising over sand and mud in both still and flowing water. To suit it, provide a large footprint of soft sand it can plough, gentle current, and subdued light. Keep the water warm at 23-28 C and neutral, around pH 6.5-7.5, with rock-steady quality, since mormyrids are very sensitive to pollutants.

Good to know

This is the only species in the genus Hyperopisus, a member of the African elephantfish family Mormyridae, reaching about 51 cm. Like its relatives it generates a weak electric field from an organ in the tail and reads distortions in that field to navigate and find food. Its diet leans heavily on molluscs. Its breeding is not recorded in the aquarium.

Did you know

Its electric sense is precise enough to locate snails and mussels buried in the sediment; it hunts hidden, hard-shelled prey without needing to see or touch them first.

Common questions

Related species

• 

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