All fish / Pimelodidae

Barred Sorubim

Pseudoplatystoma fasciatum

Also known as tiger shovelnose catfish, tiger shovelnose, barred shovelnose catfish, tiger catfish, pseudoplatystoma, tsn, tiger shovelnose cat, shovelnose tiger catfish, ปลาเสือตอลายเส้น, タイガーショベルノーズキャットフィッシュ, ikan tiger shovelnose, 虎皮鸭嘴

This is a long, flat-headed catfish with a broad shovel-shaped snout, long whiskers and a silver-grey body crossed by dark bars and spots. Keepers want it for its striking look and its bold, active manner, and it often becomes tame enough to take food from the hand.

Care at a glance

Care level

Hard

Temperament

Semi

Adult size

75 cm

Temperature

22 to 28 °C

pH

6 to 7.5

Smallest tank

3000 litres

Keep as

Single specimen; only with fish too large to swallow

Diet

Carnivore: fish fillet, prawns, mussels, earthworms and large sinking carnivore pellets

Swims

Bottom of the tank

Lifespan

15 to 20 years

Water

Freshwater

Wild range

Essequibo and coastal rivers of Guyana and Suriname; trade fish often from wider Amazon basin

Breeding

In the wild it spawns in flooded areas during the rainy season, and the adults give no care to the eggs. Home aquarium breeding is not known, so the fish sold in the trade are wild-caught or come from hormone-induced spawning on South American farms.

Good to know

Small juveniles are sold widely, but they can grow past 75 cm in one or two years and eat any tankmate they can swallow, so only buy one if you have a very large tank or an indoor pond. Several Pseudoplatystoma species and hybrids are all sold as tiger shovelnose, and the true P. fasciatum has a much smaller range than older books suggest.