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**amiidae** · 04-02-2005, 12:51 PM

Scientific name: Merodontodus tigrinus

Common name: Zebra Shovelnose, Tigrinus catfish, Tiger striped catfish.

Family: Pimelodidae

Origin: Brazil:
(Rio Maderia) Colombia: (Caqueta River)
Peru

Maximum size:
Usually abt 3' in captivity, definitely bigger in the wild.

Description:
M.tigrinus is quite closely related to B.juruensis, but it has a longer upper jaw and the first rays of the dorsal and pectoral fins are described as being flexible. Both of these catfish share a similar colour pattern of inclined stripes on the body, although M.tigrinus is the more striking of the two cats. B.juruensis is quite often referred to as the "False Tigrinus". The colour pattern is outstanding with a yellow to almost white base colour to the body with black stripes. Most of the fins share this same colour pattern of that of the body of this catfish.

Care:
Provide this fish with a minimum 6'x3'x3' tank/pond and a large filter such as a sump tank. As far as water quality goes, they will be fine with a PH between 6.5 to 7.5 and a temperature of 22- 26C, they need plenty of surface water movement and plenty of oxygen in the water. These fish can be housed with fishes such as stingrays, STs, arowanas and etc. Just make sure that they are of equal size or bigger as this cat has large mouth and will eat anything that fits its mouth.

Feeding:
They have similar feeding habits like most of the catfishes. When they're small 2"-6", they can be fed on bloodworms, small feeder mollies and other smaller feeder fishes daily or every other day, once they get to 8"-12" they should take big mollies and other big feeders readily. MP can be train when juvenile.

Breeding: These fish does not bred in captivity.

Personal:
If you are keeping more than one in a tank, the tank has got to be big and ensure you provide sufficient rock slabs for them to hide. if not, fights will definitely occur. It is better to have at least 3 and above so that the aggression towards any single fish will be minimized.

Extra:
The original specimens that were caught and described by Dr Britski of the Saô Paulo Zoology Museum were from the Rio Maderia in Brazil. It was originally thought that this was the only location where this species of catfish was found, however this catfish is known to be collected in Columbia and Peru. The original fish were collected in 1978 by Michael Goulding.. A publication by Dr Dario Castro of the University of Bogotá in 1984 recorded this catfish as being collected from the lower Caqueta River in Columbia

By aapl76

04-02-2005, 12:51 PM	#1
amiidae Moderator Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 7,140	Species profile - Merodontodus tigrinus (Zebra cat) Scientific name: Merodontodus tigrinus Common name: Zebra Shovelnose, Tigrinus catfish, Tiger striped catfish. Family: Pimelodidae Origin: Brazil: (Rio Maderia) Colombia: (Caqueta River) Peru Maximum size: Usually abt 3' in captivity, definitely bigger in the wild. Description: M.tigrinus is quite closely related to B.juruensis, but it has a longer upper jaw and the first rays of the dorsal and pectoral fins are described as being flexible. Both of these catfish share a similar colour pattern of inclined stripes on the body, although M.tigrinus is the more striking of the two cats. B.juruensis is quite often referred to as the "False Tigrinus". The colour pattern is outstanding with a yellow to almost white base colour to the body with black stripes. Most of the fins share this same colour pattern of that of the body of this catfish. Care: Provide this fish with a minimum 6'x3'x3' tank/pond and a large filter such as a sump tank. As far as water quality goes, they will be fine with a PH between 6.5 to 7.5 and a temperature of 22- 26C, they need plenty of surface water movement and plenty of oxygen in the water. These fish can be housed with fishes such as stingrays, STs, arowanas and etc. Just make sure that they are of equal size or bigger as this cat has large mouth and will eat anything that fits its mouth. Feeding: They have similar feeding habits like most of the catfishes. When they're small 2"-6", they can be fed on bloodworms, small feeder mollies and other smaller feeder fishes daily or every other day, once they get to 8"-12" they should take big mollies and other big feeders readily. MP can be train when juvenile. Breeding: These fish does not bred in captivity. Personal: If you are keeping more than one in a tank, the tank has got to be big and ensure you provide sufficient rock slabs for them to hide. if not, fights will definitely occur. It is better to have at least 3 and above so that the aggression towards any single fish will be minimized. Extra: The original specimens that were caught and described by Dr Britski of the Saô Paulo Zoology Museum were from the Rio Maderia in Brazil. It was originally thought that this was the only location where this species of catfish was found, however this catfish is known to be collected in Columbia and Peru. The original fish were collected in 1978 by Michael Goulding.. A publication by Dr Dario Castro of the University of Bogotá in 1984 recorded this catfish as being collected from the lower Caqueta River in Columbia By aapl76