Combthorn catfish
| Combthorn catfish | ||||||||||||
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Crested thorn catfish ( Agamyxis pectinifrons ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Agamyxis pectinifrons | ||||||||||||
| ( Cope , 1870) |
The comb thorn catfish , also star thorn catfish ( Agamyxis pectinifrons ) belongs to the family Doradidae , the thorn catfish. It is native to the rivers of South America . The distribution area includes the upper Amazon and its tributaries in Peru, Ecuador and Brazil. It becomes 11 to 15 cm tall. The achievable age is 20 to 30 years. The catfish are generally nocturnal, during the day they hide in caves or crevices, under wood or in the sand.
features
The flattened body, like the fins, has a dark brown basic color with white dots, hence the name star thorn catfish . This color is a perfect camouflage on the dark and muddy bottoms of South American rivers. Four barbels , each paired in pairs , sit on the mouth , with which the animals can efficiently search for food on the ground. They are both tactile and smell organs .
Fin formula
Reproduction
During the rainy season , the rivers carry large amounts of water with many particles, but above all also small prey. This stimulates the animals to mate. Pregnant females lay up to 1000 transparent, light green eggs, which are 1.2 to 1.5 mm in size and irregularly shaped. After about 40 hours, the 3 mm long young fish larvae hatch. For the first three days they feed on their yolk sacs , then on the small animals in the water.
Aquaristics
Recommended water values:
| Trim | Group (4 - 6 animals) |
| hardness | 10 - 20 ° dH |
| temperature | 24-29 ° C |
literature
- Günther Sterba : Freshwater fish in the world . Urania Verlag., Leipzig 1990 ISBN 3-89350-991-7 .
Web links
- Great crested catfish on Fishbase.org (English)
- Ornamental fish directory
- IT IS
- www.inidia.de: Pictures
- www.aquarium-guide.de
Individual evidence
- ^ Claus Schaefer, Christel Kasselmann , Andreas Raschke: The Aquarium from A - Z, p. 22; Ulmer, Stuttgart 2012; ISBN 978-3-8001-7799-8
- ↑ Axel Gutjahr: Knaurs Lexikon der Aquarienfische, Knaur, Munich, 2003, ISBN 3-426-66788-6