Auchenipterichthys coracoideus (zamora woodcat): Internal Fertilization!

[andyroo]

I came down into my dungeon-office last night to feed & lock-up, and low&behold a male & female zamora were on their backs side-by-side in the sort of love-lock we see in stingrays & nurse-sharks: "clasper" inserted, white muck excess dribbling (apologies for graphic). Of course a catfish doesn't have claspers per se, but it seems that big/extended first(?) anal fin ray is sperm insertion device, IE: internal fertilization.

Preliminary search (I do have to get to work...) & I'm not finding any mention of internal fertilization nor live-spawning for catfish online, Thoughts?

I've not got space to relocate & wouldn't know which female it was, so I'll be adding way more bamboo leaves this AM to make futher hidy-spot. This seems to have worked for the Columbian tetras in this system, even with the same catfish, clown loach & ABK & a few big MTS marauding about. Not seemed to help the silver-dollars, though...

This level of parental investment suggests either huge, well developed eggs, guarding eggs or live birth - but, again, not seeing anything near this in the online articles/literature. Me, I'm crossing-fingers for live birth, though not holding breath.

Sorry, no pictures - phone was in the main house & work-camera's on the fritz...

 

[Exotic$4me]

Here are two reports of spawns from PlanetCatfih.com:

PlanetCatfish.com - Registered Breeders Auchenipterichthys coracoideus

Will you be selling fry in the future?

 

[andyroo]

I did find one of these Planet Catfish with the video of the chase & grab, and somebody talking about eggs & juveniles - thanks.

Not interested in selling or export, but I quite like them & would love an ongoing population as these guys are rarely imported & supper'spensive these days.
... or are you looking for a supplier?

 

[Fallen_Leaves16]

Most, if not all, auchenipterids utilise some sort of internal or penetrative fertilisation; a great deal of experimentation by both hobbyists and scientists alike have shown that female woodcats (particularly D. perugiae and T. intermedia, considering those two are the easiest bred) are able to lay fertile eggs up to two weeks (?) after mating with a male.
Typical pre-spawn behavior of most woodcats consists of the male attempting to nip the female's anal fin, before chasing her around and trying to intertwine his body with the female's; typically the male (particularly in ageneiosids and Trachelyopterus) will have a means of locking the female, whether it be modified maxillary barbels (completely ossified and almost resembling multibarbed harpoons in Ageneiosus!), elongated hypermanoeuverable dorsal fin, or both.
The first few rays (in many genera with smaller species, the entire anal fin will be modified into an odd, backwards-facing triangle-like extension) of the anal fin will often be elongated and tubular, forming an intromittent gonopodium-like extension in sexually-mature males of most species, and as you have so fortunately witnessed, it is most often unceremoniously shoved up the female's nether regions for fertilisation (the female lacking a modified anal fin and means of clamping their sexual partner). Successful locks don't always seem to result in full penetration; in fact I often observed multiple locks from heavily-laden females with no resulting fertile eggs.
As for the eggs themselves, they aren't much to look at; a ridiculously large number of smallish-medium (~2-5mm), clear or milky-white jelly-covered blobs unceremoniously placed in random spots in the tank. A few species, namely those of Duringlanis, spawn in narrow pipes/tubes, but I didn't notice any parental care whatsoever- the female and/or male would kick out the eggs with absolutely no care in the world. Thankfully, not much seems to go after the eggs- perhaps the jelly coating is unpleasant to any would-be consumers, or maybe I've been lucky.
They develop fairly quickly, and not much different from small doradids and/or Microglanis. I don't know the exact details for A. coracoideus, but PlanetCatfish user Bekateen has a rather nice development thread for that species (https://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=47550#p339776).
Good luck!

 

[andyroo]

Lovely, thanks Fallen_Leaves16 .
<14-days to laying is useufl, thanks. From there the PlanetCatfish posts suggest <10-days to hatch from laying, which feels a long dice-roll in my tank but we'll keep everybody well-fed, the water refreshed & the fingers crossed. I like the idea that the the eggs be distasteful; there's extra bamboo segments & a thick layer of bamboo leaves over the bottom as of this AM, and the "oats" sand is pretty course so fingers-crossed on all of that, also. Once hatched (circa 3weeks from today?) I think we'll be Ok - the ABK might be an issue but he didn't seem to chase/bother the baby tetras, while the silverdollars are quite diurnal & don't tend to rummage. Let's see, I'll keep you posted.

 

[Exotic$4me]

Not interested in selling or export, but I quite like them & would love an ongoing population as these guys are rarely imported & supper'spensive these days.
... or are you looking for a supplier?

I would like to purchase and breed T. ocra. I want to gain some experience with keeping and breeding any F1 woodcats.

 

[andyroo]

I'll keep you posted E Exotic$4me , but I'm not beyond recreatonal fingers-crossed with habitat enhancements (tubes/leaves).
What I can tell you is that these fish are probably 4~5years old, so fully-mature, in a 100gal "show/long" with a 20gal drum-canister full of aged/old bamboo charcoal, and have been in there for ~3-years eating a commercial tilapia kibble/pellet (and tetra eggs?). Specifically,

Summer was hot, tanks likely were erring to ~30C even in the dungeon/basement. It cooled through December & everybody's down to ~26 again.
We were away over Xmas, and the house/dog/fish-sitter overfed the other tanks (where I could see the residue) so I expect the same on this one.
I did a water-change from our rainwater cistern circa Jan.5. The cistern's cement so the water's not as soft as it could be, and it's huge so the new water was vaguely warmer (to the touch) than the tank. Only ~15% change as the filter intakes get air & screw-up otherwise, but this was enough to reanimate the clown loaches - and apparently "frisky-up" the woodcats.

Based on my nowwhereburger experience:
If I was doing a dedicated breed, I'd start with a shallow med-course sand bed with bamboo/tube habitats, piled dead leaves/grass & dedicated culture of amphipods, tubifex & guppies in a 55gal of low~moderate flow through the biggest canister filter you care to invest in (or risk carpets if home-made). Don't add the fine filter-foams/meshes to the can, just coarsest media & let the blackwater ecosystem develop. Set to the side of a window-lit room for lots of corpuscular time, though a nice roots-plant (Pothos or dumb-cane?) with dedicated light (on a timer) might be prettier. Once your live-feeds are established, then add your woodcats. The internet suggests 4 (2+2).
Irregular water-changes, 1 to 8-week intervals (low-density & ecosytesm gives buffer), 10~75%, tap & rainwater as might be available, warmer/cooler to ambient. Take notes.