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05-07-2005, 01:51 PM

Article by Tan Teck Chye

About The Merodontotus Tigrinus

Some time back, we were fortunate enough to get hold of 2 specimens of Merodontotus Tigrinus, one of the rarest and most beautiful catfish that has found it's way out from the great amazon basin.

The Zebra ShovelNose catfish as it is often called was first caught and desribed by Dr Britski in 1981. It's inhabits the white water areas that spans across the amazon region of columbia, peru and the Rio Maderia in Brazil.

This catfish is indeed one of the most expensive among the members of the Pimelodidae Family. Few Tigrinus ever makes it's way down to our local fish shop and hobbyist fortunate enough to chance upon them can glaze endlessly at it's beautifully stripped body running the entire length of it's body.

Close examination of the body reveals a slight blue tint to it (especially around the head region), especially towards the head region. The eyes are small and it's wide curving snout makes you wonder if it is not perpetually smiling at you. Zebra like stripes crosses it's body and should be straight and defined in a good specimen (as shown in the body shot above). Crisscross or Y stripes are considered imperfection.

Large specimens are even hardly to come by while smaller 2-3 inches M Tigrinus have recently made it's way to the market. Care should be taken in rearing them from young as not many have been successful in getting them to feed.

Caring

We find that they adapt well to our local temperature without any need for adjustment. As they are usually found in 'whitewater' environment, pH for this fish should be either neutral or slightly acidic (region of 6.5).

The rushing water in its natural habitat provides for water turbulance and high level of dissolved oxygen. It is important to simulate this. In our tank, an internal powered filter provides this (in addition to addtional filtration capacity).

As it is nocturnal in nature, it is not easy to observe the feeding habit of this fish. We feed ours with small feeders (e.g. goldfish, red fish). In the morning, the disappearance of these feeders is a good indication that the tigrinus have been feeding.

So far, we have succeeded only in feeding live feed to the fishes. Being nocturnal in nature, don't be surprised if the fish ignores food when you throw them in. It feeds mainly at night and in darkness. Our nightly ritual involves releasing a small batch of feeder fish into the tank. Feeding is confirmed by observing the number of 'disappearance' the following morning. It is also through this mean that we determine the appetite of the fish.

As the fish grow accustom to it's tank environment, we have noticed outright feeding as we introduces the feeders in.

The fact that the Tigrinus is a scanvager should indicate feeding of fish/prawn meat. However, regular attempts have been made on introducing chunks of market prawn to the tigrinus but this have failed so far.

Tank Layout

In the wild, tigrinus grows to a whooping 24-28 inches. While this may not be achievable in an aquarium environment, it is important to provide as large an area as is possible. A confined space may cause the fish to be jumpy and damage it's delicate snout. The first sign of trouble occurs if your fish stops feeding.

Thus we recommend at least a 4X2 tank. We house our catfishes in a simple gravel based tank with rocks (large branch can be used as well) to provide shade and hiding place/cave for this nocturnal creature. Lighting should not be overly bright. Take care to provide sufficient turbulance and high dissolved oxygen (an internal power filter is highly recommended). Make sure that your tank is equiped with efficient filtration as the Tigrinus requires well good water condition.

A water change of 20% twice a week is recommended. As for tankmates, avoid any fish that can potentially become a meal for the catfish. Pacus or similar size fishes have so far

05-07-2005, 01:51 PM	#3
GARY© Guest Posts: n/a	Zebra Tignirus info Article by Tan Teck Chye About The Merodontotus Tigrinus Some time back, we were fortunate enough to get hold of 2 specimens of Merodontotus Tigrinus, one of the rarest and most beautiful catfish that has found it's way out from the great amazon basin. The Zebra ShovelNose catfish as it is often called was first caught and desribed by Dr Britski in 1981. It's inhabits the white water areas that spans across the amazon region of columbia, peru and the Rio Maderia in Brazil. This catfish is indeed one of the most expensive among the members of the Pimelodidae Family. Few Tigrinus ever makes it's way down to our local fish shop and hobbyist fortunate enough to chance upon them can glaze endlessly at it's beautifully stripped body running the entire length of it's body. Close examination of the body reveals a slight blue tint to it (especially around the head region), especially towards the head region. The eyes are small and it's wide curving snout makes you wonder if it is not perpetually smiling at you. Zebra like stripes crosses it's body and should be straight and defined in a good specimen (as shown in the body shot above). Crisscross or Y stripes are considered imperfection. Large specimens are even hardly to come by while smaller 2-3 inches M Tigrinus have recently made it's way to the market. Care should be taken in rearing them from young as not many have been successful in getting them to feed. Caring We find that they adapt well to our local temperature without any need for adjustment. As they are usually found in 'whitewater' environment, pH for this fish should be either neutral or slightly acidic (region of 6.5). The rushing water in its natural habitat provides for water turbulance and high level of dissolved oxygen. It is important to simulate this. In our tank, an internal powered filter provides this (in addition to addtional filtration capacity). As it is nocturnal in nature, it is not easy to observe the feeding habit of this fish. We feed ours with small feeders (e.g. goldfish, red fish). In the morning, the disappearance of these feeders is a good indication that the tigrinus have been feeding. So far, we have succeeded only in feeding live feed to the fishes. Being nocturnal in nature, don't be surprised if the fish ignores food when you throw them in. It feeds mainly at night and in darkness. Our nightly ritual involves releasing a small batch of feeder fish into the tank. Feeding is confirmed by observing the number of 'disappearance' the following morning. It is also through this mean that we determine the appetite of the fish. As the fish grow accustom to it's tank environment, we have noticed outright feeding as we introduces the feeders in. The fact that the Tigrinus is a scanvager should indicate feeding of fish/prawn meat. However, regular attempts have been made on introducing chunks of market prawn to the tigrinus but this have failed so far. Tank Layout In the wild, tigrinus grows to a whooping 24-28 inches. While this may not be achievable in an aquarium environment, it is important to provide as large an area as is possible. A confined space may cause the fish to be jumpy and damage it's delicate snout. The first sign of trouble occurs if your fish stops feeding. Thus we recommend at least a 4X2 tank. We house our catfishes in a simple gravel based tank with rocks (large branch can be used as well) to provide shade and hiding place/cave for this nocturnal creature. Lighting should not be overly bright. Take care to provide sufficient turbulance and high dissolved oxygen (an internal power filter is highly recommended). Make sure that your tank is equiped with efficient filtration as the Tigrinus requires well good water condition. A water change of 20% twice a week is recommended. As for tankmates, avoid any fish that can potentially become a meal for the catfish. Pacus or similar size fishes have so far Last edited by GARY©; 05-07-2005 at 02:01 PM.