Edit Belodontichthys dinema
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Name
Scientific name
Belodontichthys dinema
Described by
Authority Bleeker, Year 1851, Bracketed
Family
Siluridae
Common names
Not recorded
Photograph credits
All 2 credited
Summary
Belodontichthys dinema is a large, open-water predatory catfish from the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo that reaches 100 cm TL in the …
Size and aquarium
Maximum size
1000mm, total length
Aquarium size
Minimum length 180 cm, Minimum depth 60 cm, Minimum height 60 cm
Water
Water conditions
Temperature 22–27°C, pH 5.6–7
Hardness
1–10dGH
Conductivity
Not recorded
Behaviour
Temperament
Predatory
Social needs
Solitary or specimen
Community suitability
Not for a community
Where it lives
Countries, regions, rivers and lakes
Indonesia, Malaysia, Borneo, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Kapuas
Writing
Etymology
Belodontichthys: from the Greek belos, meaning 'arrow', odous, meaning 'tooth', and ichthys, meaning 'fish', in reference to the arrow-shaped jaw teeth of this…
Distribution
Known from the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo, in Malaysia and Indonesia. In Borneo it's recorded from the Kapuas basin in West Kalimantan, including the …
Habitat
Inhabits large rivers and their associated lakes, including the seasonally flooded lake system of the upper Kapuas in West Kalimantan (Kottelat and Widjanarti,…
Aquarium size
Needs an aquarium measuring at least 180 ∗ 60 ∗ 60 cm, and a fully grown fish needs far more space, since wild specimens reach 100 cm TL.
Maintenance
Give it plenty of open swimming space with a few large hiding places, such as lengths of wide plastic pipe. Few plants will survive the movements of a fish thi…
Water conditions
Temperature: 22 – 27 °C pH: 5.6 – 7.0 Hardness: 1 – 10 dGH
Diet
An obligate piscivore that feeds on smaller fishes. Aquarium reports say it takes only live fish, so a keeper needs a steady supply of healthy feeder fish, qua…
Behaviour and compatibility
Eats any fish it can fit in its mouth, so it's best kept as a single specimen, or with robust fishes too large to be swallowed.
Sexual dimorphism
Males are reported to have a strongly serrated pectoral-fin spine, and mature females are plumper than males.[8]
Reproduction
Not recorded as bred in aquaria, and we have no information on how it breeds in the wild.
Notes
Belodontichthys contains two species. B. truncatus Kottelat and Ng, 1999 is the species found in the Mekong and Chao Phraya basins, and it has a shorter head (…
References
References
8 on this profile