Mees' antenna catfish

Brachyrhamdia meesi

Also known as Mees' pimelodella

FreshwaterFish

Mees' antenna catfish (Brachyrhamdia meesi) — 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: 2.4 in (6 cm)
Minimum tank: 30 gal (112 L)
Temperament: Peaceful
Social behavior: Social
Swim level: Bottom
Difficulty: Medium
Breeding: No record
Rarity: Rare
Origin: Lower Amazon tributaries, Brazil
Family: Heptapteridae

Overview

Mees' antenna catfish is a small, peaceful, shoaling catfish that lives among Corydoras in the wild and does best kept much the same way. Keep several together, ideally with a group of small corydoras, since it is a sociable bottom fish that loses confidence on its own. It spends its time working the substrate for small foods, so give it soft sand, shade, and calm companions it cannot eat and that will not bully it. Feed sinking foods, small frozen items such as brine shrimp and bloodworm, and sinking dried foods. A group is comfortable in a tank of about 112 liters or more.

In the wild

Mees' antenna catfish comes from tributaries of the lower Amazon in Brazil, where it shoals with Corydoras over soft substrates in warm, gently flowing water. Set it up with a sand floor, driftwood, and dim, shaded light. The water should be soft and warm, about 23 to 28 C, at a pH of 6.0 to 7.5. Cover and calm surroundings help it behave naturally.

Good to know

Brachyrhamdia meesi is a three-barbeled catfish in the family Heptapteridae and the largest of its genus, reaching about 6 centimeters. Described by Sands and Black in 1985, it carries the long barbels of its group, and as a juvenile it mimics the small Corydoras and Otocinclus it shoals with. Its breeding has not been recorded in aquaria.

Did you know

It is the biggest of the Brachyrhamdia catfishes, yet as a youngster it copies the look of small Corydoras and Otocinclus and tags along in their shoals, only growing out of the disguise as it matures.