Tor mahseer

Tor tor

Also known as Red-finned mahseer, Red tail mahseer, Tor barb

FreshwaterFish

Care at a glance

Temperature: 61–77°F (16–25°C)
pH: 6.5–7.8
Adult size: 59.1 in (150 cm)
Minimum tank: 502 gal (1,900 L)
Temperament: Mostly peaceful
Social behavior: Schooling
Swim level: Middle
Difficulty: Difficult
Breeding: No record
Rarity: Rare
Origin: Himalayan foothill rivers, South Asia
Family: Cyprinidae

Overview

The tor mahseer is a giant river fish and a lifelong, institution-scale commitment: it schools and migrates in the wild and can reach well over a metre, so realistic housing means an indoor pond or public-aquarium system, not a home tank. It cruises the open middle water and needs enormous length, strong current, and pristine, cool, oxygen-rich water. It is mostly peaceful for its size and will not hunt fish it cannot swallow, but it dwarfs almost any tankmate, so companions must be very large and equally hardy. Feed meaty and vegetable foods: large sinking pellets, prawn, mussel, earthworms, fruit, and greens. Plan on 1,900 liters only as a bare starting volume for a young fish, with far more needed as it grows.

In the wild

Tor tor runs the fast, rocky foothill rivers of the Himalayan drainage across India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, moving upstream on the monsoon floods to spawn. Captive care is really pond or public-aquarium care: cold, strong, well-oxygenated water over rock and gravel, with vast open swimming distance. Keep it in the range of 16 to 25 degrees Celsius with pH 6.5 to 7.8, cooler in winter.

Good to know

Tor tor is the type species of the mahseer genus, Tor, in the carp family, Cyprinidae, and is known as the red-finned mahseer for its coppery-red fins over golden, heavily armoured scales. Historic records credit fish to around two metres, though a modern adult of half that is already a very large fish; it commonly matures near 36 centimetres. It is a prized game and food fish, spawned commercially for stocking but not bred in home aquariums.

Did you know

The tor mahseer wears some of the largest scales of any freshwater fish, individual scales reaching around ten centimetres across, big enough to armour the flank of a fish that can grow to the size of a person.