Marbled talking catfish

Amblydoras nauticus

Also known as Marble talking cat

FreshwaterFish

Marbled talking catfish (Amblydoras nauticus) — The Wet Spot Tropical Fish · Used with permission

Care at a glance

Temperature: 73–82°F (23–28°C)
pH: 6.0–7.5
Adult size: 4.3 in (11 cm)
Minimum tank: 30 gal (112 L)
Temperament: Peaceful
Social behavior: Social
Swim level: Bottom
Difficulty: Medium
Breeding: No record
Rarity: Rare
Origin: Upper Amazon, Peru
Family: Doradidae

Overview

A small, sociable armored catfish that is happy in company, so keep a few together and they will often pile up in the same shelter by day. It is peaceful and community-safe with calm fish of similar size, and its modest 11 cm adult size makes it manageable. Provide leaf litter, driftwood, and shaded caves over a soft floor, and keep the lighting low. Feed sinking pellets, wafers, and small frozen foods after dark, when it does most of its foraging. A group settles well in a tank of around 112 liters.

In the wild

Amblydoras nauticus is endemic to the upper Amazon of Peru, where it shuffles through leaf litter and soft sediment in slow, shaded water. A tank that mirrors this has a soft sand base, a layer of botanicals or leaf litter, driftwood, and gentle filtration. Keep it warm at 23-28 C and soft to neutral, around pH 6-7.5. Dim light and plenty of cover bring out its natural, unhurried foraging.

Good to know

This thorny catfish of the family Doradidae reaches only about 11 cm and wears a mottled brown, marbled pattern. It was described by Edward Drinker Cope in 1874. In shops it is very often mislabelled as Amblydoras hancockii, a name that actually belongs to a different fish. Like its relatives it produces audible clicks with its pectoral spines. There is no record of it spawning in aquaria.

Did you know

The species name nauticus points to Nauta, the small river port in Peru near where the first specimens were collected; despite the seafaring sound of the word, this is a freshwater fish of the upper Amazon.

Tank mates

Marbled talking catfish is a peaceful, social species that keeps to the bottom. These picks match on water type, temperature, pH, size and temperament.