The Jaguar catfish (Liasomadoras oncinus) belongs to the rarities in the aquarium. Also in the large museum collections of the world the species is only sparsely represented, so that the knowledge about these animals is small. In the aquarium, they belong to the very sensitive species that only experienced aquarists should dare to approach. The species tends to fungal diseases and bacterial diseases. One can counteract both only with optimal water care, the care is favorable in a soft, slightly acid environment (pH 5.5-6.5), both like neither fungi nor disease-causing bacteria.
The maximum length of the jaguar catfish is about 20 cm (including the caudal fin), usually they become 12-15 cm long. The males of this species, which belongs to the group of the driftwood catfishes, can be recognized by the fact that they have a tubular mating organ at the beginning of the anal fin, which is used for internal fertilization.
Very interesting is the individually very different pattern of the fish. The 5 speciemens illustrated here are all in approximately the same size (9-12 cm). On the underside of the head, the animals (both sexes) have a sucking structure, whose function is unknown.
Jaguar catfish are not very demanding when it comes to feeding, but it is to be assumed that they feed on insects from the water surface in the wild at dusk, just like other driftwood catfish. We currently have some specimens of this catfish from Brazil in stock.
For our customers: the animals have code 266304 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply the wholesale trade.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
