From Peru we could import this interesting catfish, which is only rarely available, although the species has a very wide distribution in South America. The up to 30-35 cm long fish has already been reported from the whole Amazon region and from the Guyana countries.
Zoologically Goeldiella eques belongs to the family Heptapteridae; there are great similarities to the South American Antennae Catfish (Pimelodidae) and only DNA studies showed that the two families probably developed independently of each other.
Remarkable features of G. eques are the large eyes, the very long upper jaw barbels and the fact that the upper lobe of the caudal fin is much shorter than the lower one; in the vast majority of otherwise similar catfish this is exactly the opposite.
Little is known about the wild life of Goeldiella eques. Stomach examinations of specimens from the Casiquiare revealed mainly insects and spiders (land living species and aquatic insect larvae), a small fish was also present. G. eques are peaceful among each other and against other tankmates that are not suitable as food. The sexes can probably only be distinguished externally by the differently shaped genital papillae. To our knowledge G. eques has not yet been reproduced in an aquarium, there is no information available about reproduction in nature.
For our customers: the animals have code 254752 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply the wholesale trade.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
