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The Fishes of Taiwan (1) Frants Lehmann (2 Stamps) Johnny Jensen's Photographic Library (2) Danny Blundell (3)

Description: Dorsal spines (total): 1; Dorsal soft rays (total): 85 - 105; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 70 - 81. Dorsal and anal fins continuous with caudal fin. Four pairs of mouth barbels. A single highly venomous serrate spine at the beginning of the first dorsal and each of the pectoral fins. The only catfish found in coral reefs. Also found in estuaries, tide pools and open coasts. Juveniles form dense ball-shaped schools of about 100 fish; adults are solitary or occur in smaller groups of around 20 and are known to hide under ledges during the day. Adults search and stir the sand incessantly for crustaceans, mollusks, worms, and sometimes fish. Oviparous, with demersal eggs and planktonic larvae. The highly venomous serrate spine of the first dorsal and each of the pectoral fins are dangerous, and even fatal in rare cases. Colouration: When very young they are mostly black and when they start to mature the white to yellow ventral stripes begin to appear gradually to make this catfish a real beauty to the enthusiast. It is only when they get to the adult stage that they lose this trait and revert to a murky brown colour. Aquarium Care: A tank set-up for them would comprise of a sand/gravel or coral/rock rubble, which can be aggregated in flanks or balls on sandy bottoms. A good water current is preferred with hiding places in the aquarium. A good quality salt mix (pre-mixed for a day before use) of a constant high or low range salinity is fine. The pH values would need to be monitored with the heavy feeding that is common with these cats. Diet: No problem in this department as they will greedily feed on pellets, marine flake, frozen and fresh food. Two daily feedings of at least one of defrosted frozen food will suffice.

Coral Catfish

Silurus arab, Silurus lineatus, Platystacus anguillaris, Plotosus anguillaris, Plotosus thunbergianus, Plotosus marginatus, Plotoseus ikapor, Plotosus vittatus, Plotosus castaneus, Plotosus castaneoides, Plotosus arab, Plotosus flavolineatus

Plotosidae

Indo-Pacific: Indian Ocean and Western Pacific, in marine waters, but sometimes entering freshwaters in East Africa and Madagascar, eastern Mediterranean. Type locality: (East Indian Seas).

30.0cm. (12ins)

24-26°C (75-79°F)

8.0-8.5.

Ferraris, C.J. Jr., 2007. Checklist of catfishes, recent and fossil (Osteichthyes: Siluriformes), and catalogue of siluriform primary types. Zootaxa 1418:1-628.
Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2009. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version (02/2010).
ScotCat Factsheet no. 131. May 2007.