Tawny dragon catfish

Care at a glance

Overview

This is a bold, cool-water predator reaching about 34 centimeters, best kept singly. It is a hardy fish with plenty of character, but it is aggressive and will eat anything small enough to fit in its mouth, so it is not a community fish; house it alone or only with large, robust tankmates it cannot swallow. It appreciates cool, clean water, a sand or fine gravel floor, and wood or rock to shelter among. Feed meaty foods such as earthworm, prawn, mussel, and large sinking pellets. Handle it with care, as the strong dorsal and pectoral fin spines can deliver a painful, venomous jab. A tank of around 400 liters with cool water suits an adult.

In the wild

It ranges widely across East Asia, from the Amur south to the Yangtze, living in the weedy margins of lakes, rivers, and slow channels. It is a temperate fish, so keep it cool at 16 to 26 C, in soft to neutral water around pH 6.0 to 7.5. A tank with a soft substrate, some sturdy planting, driftwood, and rockwork for cover matches its home. It does not need or want tropical warmth, and steady, well-filtered water keeps it in good health.

Good to know

Tachysurus fulvidraco is a bagrid catfish, family Bagridae, reaching about 34 centimeters. Its scientific name is vivid: fulvidraco means tawny dragon, and the genus name Tachysurus means quick tail. It is a marbled yellow and brown fish with venom glands at the base of its dorsal and pectoral spines. It is farmed on an enormous scale in China as a food fish. Aquarium breeding is rarely recorded, though it spawns readily on farms.

Did you know

Its name reads literally as tawny dragon, and it earns the dragon part with venomous spines at the front of its dorsal and pectoral fins that can give a sharp, painful sting.

Common questions

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