THE STEINHART AQUARIUM - Gulf of Guinea Science ...

114 A Docent Field Guide to the Species of the Steinhart Aquarium
guards and aerates the eggs. Both parents are
known to provide food for the juveniles, the
male by thrashing in the mud to stir up food
particles and the female by releasing eggs over
the nest for juveniles to eat.
Mortality/Longevity: Life span: usually about
15 years, some as long as 25 years. Not many
predators take on a mature channel catfish.
Dorsal and pectoral spines make them a nasty
mouthful. Juveniles are prey to birds and
carnivorous fishes.
Remarks: Farming of catfish for food is a
multi-million dollar business. Introduced for
aquaculture and recreational fishing in many
areas worldwide.
Glass Catfish
Kryptopterus minor (Siluridae)
Sheat Catfishes
Distribution: South East Asia: Indonesia,
Borneo, Malaysia.
Habitat: Among the vegetation of slow moving
rivers with murky, often acidic water.
Appearance: Has two thin lateral stripes
from head to tail and a body that is virtually
transparent, which gives it the common name
of “glass catfish.” The swim bladder and other
internal organs are visible. It can disappear
from predators when the number of blackcolored
cells are reduced and platelets of
guanine act as a mirror that reflect the habitat
and camouflage the fish. Average length: 8 cm.
Diet: Omnivore: feeds on other fishes and
small invertebrates. Using barbels, senses
presence of food in river currents. Active in
the daytime; feeds from middle to bottom of
water column.
Reproduction and Development: An egg layer
or scatterer; sexes are indistinguishable.
Remarks: Because of its transparency, is also
known as “ghost “ or “phantom” catfish.
Fish turns white at death.
African Glass Catfish
Eutropiellus debauwi aka Pareutropius debauwi
(Schilbeidae)
Schilbeid Catfishes
Distribution: Africa: Ogowe River in Gabon,
Congo system and Chiloango River.
Habitat: Freshwater schooling fish.
Appearance: Length to 11 cm. Translucent
with a silvery throat and belly and three
distinct stripes on each side that become more
prominent with age. Female with paler stripes
and more robust body.
Diet: Carnivore.
Reproduction and Development: Female
deposits adhesive eggs on aquatic plants. Do
not guard eggs.
Remarks: In captivity single and paired
individuals are sluggish, hide, refuse food and
quickly die. Apparently they have a biological
need to be in a small group.
Gluttonous, will feed to bursting if overfed in
captivity.
Walking Catfish
Clarias batrachus (Clariidae)
Airbreathing Catfishes
Distribution: Southeast Asia: Mekong and
Chao Phraya basins, Malay Peninsula, Sumatra,
Java, Borneo. Reported from Sri Lanka.
Habitat: Inhabits swamps, ponds, ditches, rice
paddies, and pools left in low spots after rivers
have been in flood. Usually confined to stagnant,
muddy water, 1 m or less. Found in medium- to
large-sized rivers, flooded fields and stagnant
bodies of water including sluggish flowing
canals. Undertakes lateral migrations from the
Mekong mainstream, or other permanent water
bodies, to flooded areas during the rainy season
and returns to the permanent water bodies at the
onset of the dry season.
Appearance: Length to 47 cm. Weight to 1.2
kg. Body compressed posteriorly. Upper jaw a
little projecting. Extensive dorsal and anal fins.
Spine of pectoral fins rough on its outer edge
and serrated on its inner edge.
Diet: Feeds on insect larvae, earthworms, shells,
shrimps, small fish, aquatic plants and debris.
Reproduction and Development: Spawn
externally in southeast Asia during the rainy
season, when rivers rise and fish are able to
excavate nests in submerged mud banks and
dikes of flooded rice fields. The mating pair
manifests the ‘spawning embrace’ which is
widely observed in other catfish species. The
pair gently nudge each other in the genital
region and flick their dorsal fins; male wraps
his body around the female, then the female
releases a stream of adhesive eggs into the nest.
Guards nest.