The great hype surrounding L catfish has long since given way to normal handling of these beautiful and interesting fish. One of the enduringly popular species is Baryancistrus xanthellus, which entered the hobby under L numbers L18, L81 and L177. The species is common and frequent in the Rio Xingu and its tributaries. Nevertheless, it is considered “near threatened” because it is affected by the construction of the Belo Monte dam.
While adult B. xanthellus (these got the number L85) look pretty much the same everywhere, the attractive juveniles, as they mainly come into the trade, differ quite considerably depending on their origin. This explains the different L-numbers: We have now received divergently colored B. xanthellus from the vicinity of Sao Felix, which are thus found in the upper section of the Xingu, a good 400 km upstream from Altamira. Near Altamira are the “normal” localities of L18 and L81. We have named them L81c Sao Felix on our stocklist to indicate the special origin.
All Baryancistrus xanthellus become 15-20 cm long in the aquarium, the maximum length is given with 25 cm. They are extremely food-demanding animals, which also require high water temperatures (28-32°C) and clean water, otherwise they will grow stunted. They are therefore demanding fish, whose care requires a certain effort on the part of the keeper. You should be aware of this before buying such animals.
At the moment we have animals available in three sizes: 4-6 cm, 10-12 cm and 12-15 cm. It is interesting to note that during growth the attractive white-yellow fin seams are greatly reduced, but the dot pattern on the body remains more or less unchanged.
For our customers: the fish have code 2648-L 081C-1 (4-6 cm), 2648-L 081C-4 (10-12 cm) and 2648-L 081C-5 (12-15 cm). Please note that we supply only wholesale.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
