New Catfish!

[Sundew]

On a recent trip to Miami I found a couple of catfish species I have been searching for for some time.

I picked up 2 Oxydoras niger babies about 4" long! I havn't seen these in a few years but they are one of my favorite cats, having two that outgrew a 135 and had to be donated to a hotel pond, where they are now both around three feet! Sadly one baby has a deformed/broken dorsal fin, probably from capture, but other than that they seem healthy. This time I have a 635 gallon vat to grow them out in so they will have the room they need.

Also a shop had a few other Doridid family cats and there was an unusual specimen I had never seen before. It was about 6 inches and had the ripsaw scales of O. niger but a different mouth and a mottle coloration. The store did not know what it was and despite paging through his fish book, we were still uncertain. It was about $20 but I couldn't resist. After research at home turns out it was a Megalodoras urunoscopus cat which I had been looking for but had never seen a live specimen of! It pays to check out the LFS in other cities!!!

I really like this family in general. Has any one had much experience with the Megalodoras? The literature says peaceful and gets about 26" long as an adult. Thought they got bigger but there isn't a lot of info on them.

 

[KenyanSandBoa]

I actually have 2 M. uranoscopus cats...great pickup!!

They are indeed very peacful...one of my favorite cats. My largest is just over a foot and the smaller guy is about 10". They will eat just about anything, but they LOVE snails. Every once and a while I'll throw some in there and they go nuts for them. Other than that, I feed them shrimp, krill, bloodworms, blackworms, carnivore pellets, and Hikari sinking pellets.

Believe it or not, they are in with my 16" Jardini and they get along great. I think they are good tankmates specifically because they are not free swimming fish, so there isn't a constant battle for tank space with the jar.

You'll have to post some pics of these guys, I would love to see them.

 

[Sundew]

I actually have 2 M. uranoscopus cats...great pickup!!

They are indeed very peacful...one of my favorite cats. My largest is just over a foot and the smaller guy is about 10". They will eat just about anything, but they LOVE snails. Every once and a while I'll throw some in there and they go nuts for them. Other than that, I feed them shrimp, krill, bloodworms, blackworms, carnivore pellets, and Hikari sinking pellets.

Believe it or not, they are in with my 16" Jardini and they get along great. I think they are good tankmates specifically because they are not free swimming fish, so there isn't a constant battle for tank space with the jar.

You'll have to post some pics of these guys, I would love to see them.

Thanks, I have never tried to post photos on MFK. How does one go about it?

The fish aren't much to look at yet, still tiny. You should see the O. niger I had to donate to the motel pond, they looks like sharks cruising around with the koi and other fish. In case anyone is wondering, it's an indoor/ordoor pond so it doesn't get that cold in the winter, or at least the tropical speices have survived several years no problem.

 

[KenyanSandBoa]

Thanks, I have never tried to post photos on MFK. How does one go about it?

The fish aren't much to look at yet, still tiny. You should see the O. niger I had to donate to the motel pond, they looks like sharks cruising around with the koi and other fish. In case anyone is wondering, it's an indoor/ordoor pond so it doesn't get that cold in the winter, or at least the tropical speices have survived several years no problem.

You can post pics by clicking on the "Manage Attachments" button under Additional Options. A little window will pop up...just click on "Browse" and select the picture file, then click on Upload and submit the post.

Do you have pics of the O. niger? I would love to see one at that size...must be a sight for sure.

 

[Bogwoodbruce]

Very nice score bro they are great cats.