Velifer squeaker

Care at a glance

Overview

Keep the sailfin squeaker on its own, as it is a solitary catfish that does not school and can be territorial with other bottom dwellers. It shelters among wood and caves by day and forages the floor after dark. It is mostly peaceful but rated for caution, so match it with calm, medium sized tankmates rather than very small fish. Feed sinking pellets, catfish wafers, and frozen foods such as bloodworm. A tank of around 300 liters with plenty of cover suits it.

In the wild

It lives in rivers of West Africa, in the Volta basin and the Pra, Sassandra, and Bandama drainages of Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, and Ghana. Furnish the tank with a sand floor, bogwood, and rocky caves. Keep the water warm, from 23 to 27 C, at a pH of 6.2 to 7.8, from soft and slightly acidic to neutral.

Good to know

A squeaker of the family Mochokidae, it reaches about 22 centimeters. Its name, velifer, means sail bearing, for the tall dorsal fin it can raise like a sail. It was described by the ichthyologist John Roxborough Norman in 1935. Breeding has not been recorded in aquaria.

Did you know

The name velifer means sail bearing. When the fish pauses on open sand it can lift its unusually tall dorsal fin like a sail, the same feature that gives it the sailfin trade name.

Common questions

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