This bizarre species has been described scientifically already in 1840. It is widely distributed in the whole Amazon basin. Nevertheless it becomes only rarely imported and so it is highly demanded by fans of predatory catfish who pay quite high prices for them. The species can attain a total length of about 45 cm.
We were able to import six specimens from Peru recently. They are 15-20 cm long and thus only juveniles. T. trachycorystes is known to be pretty aggessive against tankmates, may they be of their own kind or belong to other species. Nevertheless all our six specimens huggle together in the same pvc-tube. Definitely their desire to hide is by far greater than their disgust against each other.
These cats are quite easy to keep. They feed readily on anything of animally origin that fits in their mouth. If it is planned to keep this catfish in a community tank one must take care that tankmates do not end up as catfishfood!
Lexicon: Trachycorystes: from ancient Greek, trachys meaning “rough” and korystes meaning “one armed with a helmet”.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
