White whisker lancer catfish

Care at a glance

Overview

This is a striking night-active catfish, black-bodied with pale, chalk-white whiskers, reaching about 20 centimeters. It is best kept singly, since males are territorial toward one another, and it hides all day, coming out to forage after dark. It is mostly peaceful and will not bother fish too large to swallow, but small tankmates may be eaten, so choose robust, medium-sized companions. Give it a soft sand bed and plenty of shaded retreats among driftwood, rock caves, or pipes. Feed sinking foods, frozen bloodworm, prawn, and small live foods once the lights are off. A tank of around 300 liters with dim light and good cover suits it.

In the wild

It lives in slow, often turbid stretches of the Mekong and Chao Phraya river systems in Southeast Asia, keeping to shaded, wood-strewn water. A tank with subdued light, a soft sand substrate, and generous driftwood and cave cover matches its habits. Keep the water warm at 23 to 27 C and soft to neutral, around pH 6.0 to 7.5. Low light and secure hiding places are what coax this shy, nocturnal fish out to feed.

Good to know

Bagrichthys majusculus is a bagrid catfish, family Bagridae, reaching about 20 centimeters. Like others in its genus it has a tall, backward-curving dorsal keel that gives the group their lancer name, a coal-black body, and long barbels. In this species those whiskers are a pale, chalky white against the dark body. It is nocturnal and solitary, and its breeding is not recorded in aquariums.

Did you know

Against its coal-black body, this catfish's long barbels stand out chalk-white, which is where the white-whisker name comes from and how it is told apart from the similar black lancer.

Common questions

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