The Colombian shark is a wanderer between worlds. It spends its childhood in fresh water, adults live in the sea. The nutrient-rich brackish water zones of the estuaries are particularly favorable habitats for specimens that have outgrown their infancy. These catfish, which belong to the Ariidae family of around 150 species, only have their name in common with sharks.
The pretty, lively, peaceful and diurnal juveniles are easy to care for, as long as you bear in mind that pH values below 7 are poorly tolerated and that this fish must always be kept in groups of at least 5 specimens. The water temperature should be between 24 and 30°C. The animals require larger aquaria from the start (from 120 cm edge length), and the tank must be correspondingly larger for the adults, which grow to 20-25 cm in length in the aquarium. The largest specimen documented to date was 33 cm long (without caudal fin). Due to the mini shark’s high metabolism and particular sensitivity to nitrite, larger animals should be kept in brackish or seawater. From the onset of sexual maturity, females develop fleshy flaps at the base of the pelvic fins, the significance of which is unknown. The species is a male mouthbrooder. You can find more stories and pictures about the mini shark here: https://www.aqualog.de/blog/franky-karfreitag-der-kreuzwels-oder-minihai/ (unfortunately only available in German).
The mini sharks in the ornamental fish trade come almost exclusively from Colombia, but the species is widespread in the eastern Pacific from Colombia to Peru.
For our customers: the animals have code 208104 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply the wholesale trade.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
