Midnight catfish

Care at a glance

Overview

The midnight catfish, also sold as the Zamora woodcat, is a peaceful, sociable driftwood catfish that does best in a small group and appreciates the company of its own kind. It shelters inside wood and caves by day and becomes lively after dark, foraging along the bottom and midwater. It is calm with community fish but may eat the very smallest tankmates at night, so pair it with fish above bite size. Feed meaty foods such as bloodworms and small earthworms after lights out, plus sinking dried foods. A wood-filled tank around 75 liters or larger suits a small group.

In the wild

Auchenipterichthys coracoideus lives in the western Amazon across Peru, Brazil, and Guyana, sheltering among submerged branches and root tangles in warm, soft, slightly acidic water. Keep it cooler than many tropicals, between 22 and 25 degrees C, at a pH of 6.0 to 7.5. Provide plenty of driftwood, including hollow pieces or bamboo tubes it can wedge into, over a soft sand bed, with dim lighting and gentle flow. A mature, stable tank with low waste levels keeps it healthy.

Good to know

This small driftwood catfish in the family Auchenipteridae reaches around 11 centimeters. It has large eyes for its nocturnal habits and, like its relatives, reproduces by internal fertilization, the male using a modified anal fin to inseminate the female so she can spawn later. It carries the family's plated head and strong fin spines. Spawning in home aquariums is not documented.

Did you know

Because it mates by internal fertilization, a female midnight catfish can be carrying live, stored sperm when you buy her, and may lay fertile eggs in your tank weeks later with no male present.

Related species

• Pygmy driftwood catfish

  Trachelyichthys exilis

  3.1 in (8 cm)21 gal (80 L)72–77°F (22–25°C)
• Oil catfish

  Centromochlus perugiae

  2.4 in (6 cm)15 gal (55 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)
• Jaguar catfish

  Liosomadoras oncinus

  9.1 in (23 cm)65 gal (245 L)72–82°F (22–28°C)
• Bottlenose catfish

  Ageneiosus marmoratus

  7.9 in (20 cm)95 gal (360 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)

• 

  Common woodcat

  Trachelyopterus galeatus

  8.7 in (22 cm)50 gal (190 L)72–82°F (22–28°C)

• 

  Gulper catfish

  Asterophysus batrachus

  9.8 in (25 cm)95 gal (360 L)72–82°F (22–28°C)