Blue jumper catfish

Exallodontus aguanai

Also known as Deepwater pim

FreshwaterFish

Care at a glance

Temperature: 73–82°F (23–28°C)
pH: 6.0–7.5
Adult size: 7.9 in (20 cm)
Minimum tank: 106 gal (400 L)
Temperament: Mostly peaceful
Social behavior: Social
Tankmates: Tankmates with caution
Swim level: Bottom
Difficulty: Medium
Breeding: No record
Rarity: Rare
Origin: Deep channels of the Orinoco and Amazon
Family: Pimelodidae

Overview

The blue jumper is a deep-channel pimelodid that is almost never kept, so its husbandry is thinly documented and the sensible approach follows its river-floor life. It is a mostly peaceful, night-active bottom fish that appears to live in loose aggregations, so a small group in a large tank likely suits it better than a single specimen. Because it will take any tankmate small enough to swallow, choose companions with care: calm, similarly sized fish, nothing bite-sized. Feed meaty sinking foods after dark, such as earthworm, prawn, mussel and sinking pellets. Give it a dim, smooth-floored, securely covered tank of about 400 liters or more.

In the wild

Exallodontus aguanai comes from the deep channels of the Amazon and Orinoco basins across Brazil, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela, a lightless world tens of meters down. Recreate the calm, dark bottom rather than the surface river: subdued lighting or none, a smooth sand floor with no sharp decor, gentle to moderate flow, and plenty of shade. Warm, soft to neutral water at 23 to 28 degrees Celsius and pH 6.0 to 7.5 suits it, kept clean and well filtered.

Good to know

Exallodontus aguanai is the only species in its genus, described in 1991, and reaches about 20 centimeters. It sits in the Pimelodidae, the long-whiskered antenna catfishes, and shows the large eyes and pale, blue-sheened body typical of fishes from permanently dark river depths. Nothing is known of its breeding in captivity, and specimens reach the trade only as occasional bycatch.

Did you know

It belongs to a small set of catfishes that live in the deepest river channels, habitat so far down that these fish were first sampled by dragging trawls along the riverbed rather than with ordinary nets.