Among the small whiptail catfish (Rineloricaria), all of which are cave breeders, there is a group that is particularly well adapted to life on sandy bottoms in black water. They are particularly sought after by catfish specialists due to their attractive spot pattern. What they have in common is a circular, conspicuous spot on their front back.
Although there are hardly any problems in keeping these fish, breeding is unfortunately not very productive and the rearing process (compared to other witch catfish) is quite costly, which is why the few offspring usually remain among breeders. We are therefore delighted that we have once again succeeded in importing Rineloricaria formosa. The animals come from the Rio Atabapo in Venezuela. Overall, this species is the most widespread of the group described above and colonizes the greater area of the western Orinoco catchment and the upper Amazon catchment in Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela. The maximum length is about 18 cm. What is very interesting about this species (and looks almost frightening in close-up) is its ability to bend its head upwards. The purpose of this anatomical peculiarity is unknown.
For our customers: the animals have code 257934 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply the wholesale trade.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
