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 e march on into another new year and another large catfish that is probably not suitable for your home aquarium as again grows too large and predatory unless you are an experienced big catfish keeper. The catfish in question is the african bagrid, Bagrus docmak.

    Bagrus docmak

Bagrus docmak has a large deployment in Africa. It inhabits lakes, swamps and rivers. Widespread in both shallow and deep water. Probably associated with rocky bottoms/coarse substrates. Mostly active during the night and the twilight hours. Juveniles may frequent exposed rocky shores. Moderately important as a food species in Lake Victoria, but becoming rare with the appearance of Nile perch. Catches decreased strongly in Lake Victoria after the lates upsurge. Predation by lates and competition with lates (for haplochromines) may have played a role in the decline. A notably recovery in waters between 3m and 6m depth in Lake Victoria has been reported. Second most important food species in Lake Edward, Congo.

Semutundu, Sudan Catfish

Bagrus domac, B. docmac docmac, Silurus docmak, S. docmac, Porcus docmac, P. docmac docmac,  P. docmac niger, Bagrus docmac, B. koenigi, B. docmac niger

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Africa: Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Congo Dem Rep, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda. Type locality: In the lower Nile to the Delta.

50.0cm. (20ins)

21-25°C (69-75°F)

Dorsal spines (total): 1; Dorsal soft rays (total): 8 - 11; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 11 - 14; Vertebrae: 46 - 49. Diagnosis: head depressed, broad, about 1.3-1.6 times as long as wide, squarish when viewed from above, without rough texture. Head width measured at base of preopercle 58.9-71.8% head length; 12-16 gill rakers on first gill arch. Body slightly elongated, 5-6 times longer than deep. Four pairs of barbels. Premaxillary tooth plate 5-7 times longer than wide, a little shorter than and about as broad as the band of vomerine teeth. Premaxillary toothplate width less than 2.5 times in head length. Occipital process 3-5 times longer than wide. Predorsal length 2.4-2.7 times in standard length; 9-10 branched dorsal fin rays, not or only slightly filamentous. Long adipose dorsal fin present. Standard length/caudal peduncle length 2.4-2.7. Upper lobe of caudal fin often with a short filament.

Fine as juveniles, but as they mature they become predatory so would need to be kept with fish that are not too small. A large tank would be needed with plenty of swimming space but it is not really recommended for home aquaria, but public aquaria, unless you have a vast experience of keeping large predatory catfish and its needs.

The males excavates a spawning pit, in which they spawn and fry are guarded until the young can search for food themselves.

Males posses a genital papilla in front of the anal fin with distinct pairings of males and females.

Feeds on insects, crustaceans, mollusks and fish. Some debris and vegetable matter may also be ingested.

Adipose fin: Fleshy finlike projection without rays, behind the rayed dorsal fin.
Anal fin: The median, unpaired, ventrally located fin that lies behind the anus, usually on the posterior half of the fish.
Caudal fin: The tail.
Caudal peduncle: The narrow part of a fish's body to which the caudal or tail fin is attached.
Dorsal fin: The primary rayed fin(s) on top of the body.
Genital papilla: A small, fleshy tube behind the anus in some fishes, from which the sperm or eggs are released; the sex of a fish often can be determined by the shape of its papilla.
Gill rakers: Structure on the upper portion of the gill arches.
Occipital: A median bone on the upper surface of the back of the head; pertaining to the occiput.
Preorbital: The first and usually the largest of the suborbital bones; located along the ventro-anterior rim of the eye. Sometimes called the lacrimal bone; the bone or region before and below the eye.
Standard length: The standard length (SL) is the distance from the tip of its snout or lower jaw to the base of its caudal fin. This is the most reliable measurement for fish because tail fins are often damaged.
Vomerine teeth: Thin and sharp, more or less protruding according to the species, the vomerine crest (Crista vomeris) is the caudal, or guttural part of the ventral part of the vomer bone.

Bagrus: Latinisation of bagre, which, according to Marcgrave (1648), is a Portuguese word for catfish used in Brazil (possibly first applied to the marine ariid Bagre bagre).
docmak: From docmak or doqmâk, Arabic name for this catfish along the Lower Nile river delta, Egypt [authorship often given as (Forsskål 1775).

Photo Credits

© Ben Lee @
© Mark Towers
Wikipedia Commons Map: John187 - Own work