Blotched sisorid catfish

Glyptothorax macromaculatus

Also known as Big-blotch torrent cat

FreshwaterFish

Care at a glance

Temperature: 68–79°F (20–26°C)
pH: 6.0–7.5
Adult size: 6.3 in (16 cm)
Minimum tank: 42 gal (160 L)
Temperament: Peaceful
Social behavior: Social
Swim level: Bottom
Difficulty: Medium
Breeding: No record
Rarity: Rare
Origin: Upper Salween basin, Yunnan
Family: Sisoridae

Overview

The blotched sisorid is one of the larger torrent catfish, a peaceful, current-loving species for a serious river tank. It is social and can be kept in a small group where there is room, holding station on rock and working the flow for food. It is cool-water by nature, so an unheated, fast-flowing tank is its only honest home; warm, still water runs it down. Keep it with other robust, flow-loving fish of similar size. Feed sinking foods into the current, worms, small pellets, and frozen items. Allow a tank of around 160 liters or more with strong flow and cool, clean water.

In the wild

Glyptothorax macromaculatus comes from cool, rocky rivers of the upper Salween drainage in Yunnan, where mountain water runs fast and oxygen is high. Give it a boulder-and-cobble scape with heavy flow and strong surface movement. Keep the temperature down, 20–26 C, and the water clean and around pH 6.0–7.5. This is a coldwater river fish at heart, not a tropical community catfish.

Good to know

Glyptothorax macromaculatus is a torrent catfish, family Sisoridae, reaching around 16 centimeters and marked with bold dark saddle blotches, which its species name, meaning large-spotted, describes. Like all Glyptothorax it grips rock with a ridged thoracic adhesive pad. It is not known to have been bred in aquaria.

Did you know

It lives in rivers high enough that the water stays cold through the year, so keeping it well means keeping it cool. In effect it is a catfish with an altitude rating, unsuited to a heated tropical tank.

Tank mates

Blotched sisorid catfish is a peaceful, social species that keeps to the bottom. These picks match on water type, temperature, pH, size and temperament.