Order Siluriformes
Family Pimelodidae (Long-whiskered catfishes)
Continued…
Genus Pseudoplatystoma.
Unlike other fishes, their body is not covered with scales, and their soft skin is easily injured. Frozen shrimp, fish, and live feeder fish are suitable as food.
— Spotted Shovelnose catfish — Pseudoplatystoma corruscans [Spix & Agassiz, 1829]. Synonym: Platystoma corruscans, Silurus macrocephalus, Sorubim caparary. (English: Spotted Shovelnose). Brazil, Paraná, La Plata, and São Francisco rivers. 70-110 cm. Starting from 30 cm of age, larger black spots appear on the body. They have a body covered with large spots on the sides and back, arranged in a line with pale vertical stripes. The dorsal and caudal fins have several spots. They lead a nocturnal hunting lifestyle. pH 6.0-7.6; T 22-26°C.
— Tiger Shovelnose Catfish, Barred Sorubim — Pseudoplatystoma fasciatum [Linnaeus, 1766]. (English: Barred Sorubim, Shovelnose, Tiger Shovelnose Catfish). Peru and Venezuela, Amazon River basin. In aquarium conditions, their size does not exceed 80-90 cm. The body is elongated and streamlined, the head is long, the mouth is large and resembles a duck’s bill. The upper jaw is longer than the lower jaw. One pair of long barbels on the upper jaw and two pairs of short barbels on the lower jaw.
The body is silvery-gray on the sides, with an olive back. Dark stripes and spots at equal distances from each other run vertically along the body, reaching the ventral surface. Frequent thin black vertical stripes with branches forming bizarre patterns run along the back and sides. In the tail region, the stripes are intermittent and may be located horizontally. The belly is creamy white.
The fins are dotted with dark strokes and dots. The dorsal fin is pointed, and the caudal fin has a large notch, which is a kind of hallmark for the entire family of pimelodid catfishes. The pectoral and ventral fins are dark with small spots. The speckled fins are surprisingly small.
They can be kept up to 15 cm in length. A predator, it needs to be housed in a very large aquarium. Fish are active only at night; during the day they are inactive. A very large aquarium, with a volume of at least 400 liters for one fish, shaded in the back, with driftwood placed there where it will hide.
Most of the time they stay at the bottom. The fish has no scales, so there should be no sharp objects in the aquarium that could injure the fish. It is desirable that all decorations are securely fixed at the bottom. Lighting is dim, diffused. Weekly water changes of 20% of the aquarium water are necessary, as well as powerful filtration and aeration. Do not keep with fish smaller than itself.
Neighbors can be large Pacu or similarly sized fish that will not be swallowed. In their natural habitat, they feed on other fish and also eat freshwater crabs. In the aquarium, the diet consists of worms, freshwater fish, and shrimp. Despite having a large mouth, fish are not able to swallow large pieces of food. For them, the food should be no more than 5 cm in diameter. In aquarium conditions, the fish do not breed. pH 6.0-7.6; dH 2-20°; T 22-26°C.
— Tiger Sorubim — Pseudoplatystoma tigrinum [Valenciennes, 1840]. Synonym: Platystoma tigrinum. (English: Tiger Sorubim). Amazon River basin, Brazil, Peru, Uruguay. Length in the aquarium up to 60 cm. The body of this fish is not covered with scales like most fish. It has soft, easily injured skin.
The body is strongly elongated, the head is large, strongly flattened from above and below, with an elongated snout. Barbels — three pairs (one of them on the upper jaw), very large and long. The fins are quite large, with dark, large spots. The caudal fin is bilobed with a deep notch, the adipose fin is located above the anal fin. The first rays of the pectoral and dorsal fins form sharp spines used for defense purposes.
The coloration of the tiger pseudoplatystoma can vary depending on the habitat and the age of the fish. Body coloration ranges from silvery-gray or gray-blue to beige with contrasting oblique black-and-blue stripes. In some individuals, they resemble large spots. The belly and lower part of the sides are white. Prominent wide black stripes are present on the back. The head has large, rounded spots. The lower half of the body is light or white.
This is a large predator, leading a nocturnal and twilight lifestyle. They are quite active, actively swimming around the aquarium, but at the same time moving very gracefully. Aquarium volume should be at least 300 liters. Very timid, hitting the walls of the aquariums, they can get badly beaten, breaking the rostrum, which leads to fungal diseases.
In general, it is better to keep them singly, as fights between individuals of the same species often lead to the death of these valuable fish. Tankmates should be one and a half to two times larger than the pseudoplatystoma (arowanas, garpikes, Orinoco catfish, snakeheads, and other large species). Neighboring fish should not be aggressive or pugnacious so as not to damage the soft skin of the pseudoplatystoma.
The substrate should be soft, and shelters are needed. Lighting should be dim. Powerful filtration and aeration, and weekly water changes are necessary. You can feed this fish with frozen shrimp, squid, pollock, cod, pink salmon, etc. Both live fish and carrion are suitable. Young specimens eat pellet or tablet food well. It grows relatively slowly. dH up to 20°; pH 6.2-7.2; T 22-26°C.
Identification: Genus Pseudoplatystoma.
Genus Batrochoglanis, Genus Cephalosilurus, Genus Microglanis, Genus Pseudopimelodus.
Pimelodus blochii, Pimelodus maculatus, Pimelodus ornatus, Pimelodus pictus. 
