Gold-spotted doradid

Wertheimeria maculata

Also known as Wertheimer's catfish

FreshwaterFish

Gold-spotted doradid (Wertheimeria maculata) — The Wet Spot Tropical Fish · Used with permission

Care at a glance

Temperature: 68–79°F (20–26°C)
pH: 6.0–7.5
Adult size: 11.8 in (30 cm)
Minimum tank: 106 gal (400 L)
Temperament: Peaceful
Social behavior: Social
Swim level: Bottom
Difficulty: Medium
Breeding: No record
Rarity: Rare
Origin: Jequitinhonha and Pardo rivers, eastern Brazil
Family: Doradidae

Overview

A large, calm, slow-growing armored catfish for a spacious, cool-leaning community. It is peaceful and gregarious, comfortable on its own or with a few of its kind, and it ignores tankmates it cannot swallow, though small fish and shrimp are fair game at night. Give it a soft, open floor to forage across, sturdy driftwood, and a shaded retreat. Feed sinking pellets, wafers, mussel, and earthworm, and remember it does most of its eating after dark. A tank of around 400 liters, run on the cooler side, matches this 30 cm species.

In the wild

Wertheimeria maculata is found only in the Jequitinhonha and Pardo rivers of eastern Brazil, coastal drainages that sit entirely outside the Amazon system and run cooler than most catfish rivers. Recreate that with flowing, well-oxygenated water held at a lower 20-26 C, a sand or fine gravel bed, and wood for cover. Keep the chemistry soft to neutral, around pH 6-7.5, and the current gentle but present.

Good to know

Reaching about 30 cm, this is the sole species in the genus Wertheimeria and one of the most ancient lineages in the family Doradidae. Studies place it, with its relative Kalyptodoras, as the sister group to all other thorny catfishes, set apart in its own subfamily Wertheimerinae. It carries the usual doradid armor and spine-stridulating sound. Its breeding is not recorded in aquaria.

Did you know

Its lineage branched off before the rest of the thorny catfish family spread and diversified, so keeping one is a little like housing a living fossil, stranded in just two small rivers east of the Amazon watershed.