Dwarf dolphin catfish

Care at a glance

Overview

The dwarf dolphin catfish is a small, active open-water catfish shaped like a little porpoise, best kept singly rather than in a group. It cruises the middle of the tank and comes alive at dusk, when it hunts, so it needs real swimming room. It is mostly peaceful but predatory by nature: it will eat any tankmate small enough to swallow, so choose companions carefully and keep them well above bite size. Feed meaty foods such as earthworm, prawn, and sinking pellets, mostly in the evening. Despite its modest length it wants a long tank of around 265 liters or more for cruising space.

In the wild

This catfish ranges through open water in channels of the upper Amazon basin, hunting small invertebrates and fish in the current at dusk and after dark. Give it a spacious, well-filtered tank with clear swimming lanes down the middle and gentle to moderate flow, dim lighting, and some cover at the edges. Soft, warm, slightly acidic water suits it, around 23–28 C and pH 6.0–7.5.

Good to know

Tympanopleura atronasus is a driftwood catfish, family Auchenipteridae, reaching about 15 centimeters. Its genus name means drum-side, for a striking feature: a patch on each flank where muscle is absent and the gas bladder presses against a thin window of skin, a built-in eardrum. Like its relatives it fertilizes internally, but aquarium breeding is not on record.

Did you know

The bare patch on its side is not a blemish but hearing equipment. There the swim bladder meets a thin drumhead of skin, letting the fish pick up sound through its own flank, and the whole genus is named for it.

Common questions

Related species

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  Orinoco dolphin catfish

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• 

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• 

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• 

  Striped woodcat

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• Zamora catfish

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