Zebra shovelnose catfish

Brachyplatystoma juruense

Also known as Juruense catfish, Zebra cat

FreshwaterFish

Zebra shovelnose catfish (Brachyplatystoma juruense) — The Wet Spot Tropical Fish · Used with permission

Care at a glance

Temperature: 73–82°F (23–28°C)
pH: 6.0–7.5
Adult size: 23.6 in (60 cm)
Minimum tank: 396 gal (1,500 L)
Temperament: Aggressive
Social behavior: Solitary
Tankmates: Tankmates with caution
Swim level: Bottom
Difficulty: Difficult
Breeding: No record
Rarity: Rare
Origin: Deep river channels of the Amazon basin
Family: Pimelodidae

Overview

The zebra shovelnose is a large, strong-swimming predatory catfish and a serious commitment, really a job for public aquariums or a handful of dedicated keepers. It lives alone: keep a single fish, since it is aggressive toward its own kind and toward bottom rivals. It will eat any tankmate it can engulf, so companions must be large, fast and non-nippy, chosen with great care. Feed meaty foods such as whole fish substitutes, prawn, mussel and large sinking pellets, never mammal meat. It needs a huge, high-flow tank with open sand and a heavy lid, about 1500 liters or more, and it grows to the size of a forearm.

In the wild

Brachyplatystoma juruense patrols the deep channels and whitewater stretches of the Amazon and Orinoco basins, strong-current habitat far from still water. A tank has to echo that: strong flow and heavy oxygenation, a smooth sand floor, and open length to swim, with subdued light. Keep it warm at 23 to 28 degrees Celsius and soft to neutral, pH 6.0 to 7.5. Pristine, well-filtered water is essential for a fish this large and this active.

Good to know

Brachyplatystoma juruense is a goliath catfish of the Pimelodidae, banded in gold and charcoal and reaching about 60 centimeters, sometimes more. The species name refers to the Jurua River. Its genus contains some of the largest and most migratory catfishes in South America. There is no aquarium breeding record; these fish are far too large to spawn in tanks.

Did you know

Its close relatives make the longest known freshwater fish migrations on earth, swimming thousands of kilometers from Amazon estuary nurseries up to headwater spawning grounds near the Andes.