Marbled bichir

Care at a glance

Overview

A good starter bichir at around 35 cm, it can be kept in a tank of at least 200 litres with a tight-fitting lid. Keep it at 24 to 28 C and pH 6.0 to 7.5. It is peaceful with fish it cannot swallow but will eat small tankmates, so pair it with medium to large community fish. Offer sinking meaty foods including prawns, worms and pellets, ideally after lights-out.

In the wild

The marbled bichir is one of the smaller, more manageable members of the family, with a slim body and a mottled grey-green pattern. It has the same armoured scales and dorsal finlets as its larger relatives. It is a nocturnal bottom hunter that follows scent to its food.

Good to know

Polypterus palmas is a West African bichir with paired lungs that let it breathe atmospheric air. Like all bichirs it has thick ganoid scales and a body plan little changed for many millions of years. Juveniles pass through a larval stage with external gills.

Did you know

Bichirs find food almost entirely by smell, so they can be trained to feed even in a fully darkened tank.

Related species

• 

  Barred bichir

  Polypterus delhezi

  13.8 in (35 cm)53 gal (200 L)75–86°F (24–30°C)

• 

  Senegal bichir

  Polypterus senegalus

  13.8 in (35 cm)143 gal (540 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)
• West African Bichir

  Polypterus retropinnis

  13.8 in (35 cm)53 gal (200 L)77–82°F (25–28°C)

• 

  Ornate bichir

  Polypterus ornatipinnis

  21.7 in (55 cm)172 gal (650 L)77–82°F (25–28°C)

• 

  Saddled bichir

  Polypterus endlicherii

  25.6 in (65 cm)151 gal (570 L)77–84°F (25–29°C)

• 

  Nile bichir

  Polypterus bichir

  27.6 in (70 cm)185 gal (700 L)77–84°F (25–29°C)