Pygmy driftwood catfish

Care at a glance

Overview

The pygmy driftwood catfish is a small, peaceful species that is happiest in a group, so keep several together in a quiet, well-planted community. It is gentle with tankmates and safe with all but the tiniest fry, making it a good fit for a small community aquarium. Being nocturnal, it hides among wood and plants by day and forages after dark, so offer live and frozen foods such as bloodworms, plus small sinking pellets, once the lights are off. Provide driftwood, dense planting, and dim light over a soft substrate, in a tank around 80 liters or larger.

In the wild

Trachelyichthys exilis is found only in the Nanay River basin in Peru, a soft, acidic, tannin-stained blackwater system shaded by forest. Recreate that with a temperature of 22 to 25 degrees C and a pH of 6.0 to 7.5, keeping the water soft. Dim the lighting with floating plants, and furnish driftwood, leaf litter, and dense planting for cover. Gentle flow and a mature, clean tank with low nitrate suit this secretive little catfish.

Good to know

This dwarf driftwood catfish in the family Auchenipteridae grows to about 8 centimeters. Like its relatives it reproduces by internal fertilization, the male using a modified anal fin, so a female can store sperm and spawn later. It carries the family's plated head and locking fin spines despite its small size. Breeding in home aquariums is not documented.

Did you know

The pygmy driftwood catfish was described by science only in the 1970s and is known in the wild from a single river system, the Nanay, in the Peruvian Amazon. It reaches just 8 centimeters, tiny for a driftwood catfish.

Related species

• Oil catfish

  Centromochlus perugiae

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

  Auchenipterichthys coracoideus

  4.3 in (11 cm)20 gal (75 L)72–77°F (22–25°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)