Brown-Point Shield Skin

Care at a glance

Overview

This is a tiny, timid Aspidoras that gains confidence only in numbers, so keep a group of at least six and more where you can. It works the sand bed all day with its barbels and needs peaceful, undersized tankmates that will not bully it or steal its share. Offer finely sinking foods: micro pellets, crushed wafers, and small frozen items such as daphnia and cyclops. Because it is so small and shy, a quiet tank of around 50 liters or more with plenty of cover suits it.

In the wild

Aspidoras fuscoguttatus comes from soft, warm streams of the upper Parana River basin in Brazil, living over fine sand among leaf litter and wood. Give it a soft sand substrate to protect its delicate barbels, with driftwood, dried leaves, and shady plants. Keep the water slightly acidic, pH about 6.0 to 7.2, and the temperature between 22 and 25 C, clean and gently filtered.

Good to know

A small armored catfish in the family Callichthyidae, this species belongs to Aspidoras and reaches only about 3.8 cm. Its name fuscoguttatus is Latin for dusky spotted, describing the fine brown speckling over a pale body that also gives it the shield skin common name. Two rows of bony plates armor each side. Captive breeding is essentially unrecorded, though Aspidoras lay adhesive eggs that the female tucks briefly between her pelvic fins.

Did you know

The tongue twisting name fuscoguttatus is simply Latin for dusky spotted, describing the scatter of small brown points across a cream body, which is exactly where the common name brown point shield skin comes from.

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