Red Tailed Catfish

Before online dating this monster of the Amazon was the original catfish.

Red Tailed Catfish can be found in rivers, streams, lakes and ponds in the Amazon, Orinoco and Essequibo river basins. These huge fish were once popularly sold in fish shops to hobbyist however would outgrow household tanks very quickly as they can stretch to 1.5m and most needed rehomed. Due to increase awareness of big fish this is much less of an issue however people must be wary when buying fish to check how big they can grow.

The Red-tailed catfish has a broad head with long whiskers, dark black body and white underneath that extends from the mouth to the caudal fin. The tail is red and sometime the dorsal, pelvic and anal fins are also red. They have a well-developed tactile sense and their whiskers are sensitive and have chemical reception cells which are used as the sense of smell.

They eat during the evening and night and stay motionless during the day. These bottom-dwellers move about quite slowly. These large fish tend to become territorial and like to exist with other fish from the same family They communicate by making a clicking sound to warn off potential dangers.