While these are certainly much smaller than most of you are probably interested in, I think they warrant a post as they are exceptionally uncommon and very interesting fish. While many are more familiar with their cousin, Centromochlus perugiae (formerly Tatia), the honeycomb catfish, these guys warrant a close look.
First up, Centromochlus reticulatus, known commonly as the "purple oilcat". Previously described in Guyana, I imported these recently from Peru, which gives them the formal latin name of Centromochlus cf. reticulatus. While only reaching slightly larger than an inch, they are a beautiful purple/dark pink color with typical honey comb patterning. They have interesting breeding in that they utilize internal fertilization. They are also surface feeders, which is atypical for a lot of catfish and like high oxygen waters.
Next is Centromochlus cf. macranthus, a really rare cat also that I imported from Peru, but previously found in Brazil. This fish gets larger than the reticulatus, hitting nearly three inches and exhibits a more typical behavior of wood cats, hiding in crevices.
The featured catfish of the month on Planet Catfish is a Centromochlus, so I thought this would be relevant as current news/species of interest. These two catfish are exceptionally rare, and have fascinating breeding behavior. Regina Spotti's article on breeding the Tatia strigata can be found at this link, and information is relevant to these two catfish: http://www.planetcatfish.com/cotm/cotm.php?species=tatia+strigata&article_id=484
First up, Centromochlus reticulatus, known commonly as the "purple oilcat". Previously described in Guyana, I imported these recently from Peru, which gives them the formal latin name of Centromochlus cf. reticulatus. While only reaching slightly larger than an inch, they are a beautiful purple/dark pink color with typical honey comb patterning. They have interesting breeding in that they utilize internal fertilization. They are also surface feeders, which is atypical for a lot of catfish and like high oxygen waters.
Next is Centromochlus cf. macranthus, a really rare cat also that I imported from Peru, but previously found in Brazil. This fish gets larger than the reticulatus, hitting nearly three inches and exhibits a more typical behavior of wood cats, hiding in crevices.
The featured catfish of the month on Planet Catfish is a Centromochlus, so I thought this would be relevant as current news/species of interest. These two catfish are exceptionally rare, and have fascinating breeding behavior. Regina Spotti's article on breeding the Tatia strigata can be found at this link, and information is relevant to these two catfish: http://www.planetcatfish.com/cotm/cotm.php?species=tatia+strigata&article_id=484
I've only seen Centromochlus Reticulatus a couple of times. Never picked one up the first time and never saw them for a LOOOOOOONG time after. When I saw them the second time around, I snagged it up, just to accidentally kill it by leaving my CO2 on overnight
