The catfish Zungaro zungaro belongs to the largest catfish species of South America. There were all kinds of debates about its name, for a long time it sailed under Pseudopimelodus zungaro or Paulicea luetkeni. Because of its gigantic size (length up to 140 cm, weight up to 50 kg) the species is difficult to study and it undergoes an enormous change of color from a leopard-like patterned juvenile to a monochrome gray giant.
DNA studies suggest that there are other species besides the two generally recognized Zungaro species (Z. zungaro from the Amazon and Orinoco rivers and Z. jahu, which grows to exactly the same size, from the Paraná-Paraguay system).
We have now imported from Brazil some “babies” of 15-20 cm length, which still carry the nice juvenile markings. Of course such giants are only suitable for zoos, show aquariums and specialists with the corresponding large tanks.
For our customers: the fish have code 299805 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply wholesale.
Text & photos. Frank Schäfer
