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Please note that the following article was put together from articles which appeared in the March and April issues of Ryedale Reporter.

On the Trail of the Identity of the Arius at Flamingo Land

By David Marshall
Photographs by Mrs. Jackie Goulder
From the Ryedale Reporter, March 2004. Ryedale Aquarist Society, North Yorkshire, England
Aquarticles

After a second visit, this time with the members of Ryedale Aquarist Society, to see the fish at Flamingo Land I was determined to try and help Jackie, the Zoo's aquarist, to try and discover the exact identity of the beautiful 'Arius catfish'.

  
Photos by Mrs. Jackie Goulder, who retains the copyright

Armed with e-mail friendly copies of Jackie's photographs I contacted several 'catfish experts' and asked for their help in providing some clues. Y.A.A.S. 'A' Class Judge Mr. Steve Grant was the first, and to this date only, person to reply and left us with the following lead (the reference to Mystus comes from my comments that the 'Arius' has a look of 'Mystus' wyckii):-

Hello David - Yes it's difficult to tell from a photograph but it does look like an Ariid. Mystus wyckii (now known as Hemibagrus wyckioides) has long maxillary barbels. My closest guess from the photos is Aspistor quadriscutis (used to be in Arius) but it is only a guess. The only sure way of identifying it is drawing/photographing the cephalic shields (Head plates), and also if possible the tooth patches but this is virtually impossible in live fishes. - Regards Steve

Well if Jackie is brave enough to attempt some more photography for us we may be able to get back to Steve with more detailed data but knowing the depth of knowledge Steve has acquired on the subject of catfish I began the hunt for information on the fish mentioned above.

Searching through textbooks revealed that Valenciennes scientifically named Aspistor quadriscutis in 1840. The only other member of this genus is A. luniscutis. A. quadriscutis has a natural distribution from north west Guyana through to north-eastern Brazil (off Orinoco Delta) with unconfirmed reports placing it around the coastline of Venezuela. This fish is known commonly as the Bressou Sea Catfish but is equally at home in brackish and freshwater environments. Unlike many members of the Arius grouping this fish does not have a 'shark catfish' tag. The exact spawning ritual is unknown but eggs are orally incubated by the male.

I was absolutely thrilled to get this far, having never heard of the scientific name, so began to cross-reference the above on the 'search' facility of our Internet supplier. I did not expect to find much more information than had already come to light so was thrilled when 12 sites were revealed as possible sources of further bits and pieces about Aspistor catfish.

From the first 11 sites the information we already had was confirmed and the following points added:-
- The Bressou Sea Catfish had been the subject of scientific research on sustainable food resources on two occasions.
- Ichthyologists had been unable to find a definite way of telling males and females apart.
- This fish is sold fresh for human consumption via wet fish stands while exported frozen to countries of unstated origin.
- Usually has various bottom-dwelling invertebrates found among its stomach contents.

Now with site 12 left to view I expected to find very little else to report upon so imagine my joy when the FishBase Org., first time I had visited this site, had a wonderful 2 page information sheet on the Bressou Sea Catfish that had been compiled by A. P. Marceniuk and C. J. Ferrais Jr.

Although the only photograph with the file was of a museum specimen this fish, which looks like a deflated version of our photographs and lacks natural colour, does look very similar and fins and whiskers certainly appear to match.

If we do have the right fish we can tell Jackie that her fish is certainly 'over size' as 50cm TL is the normal wild length for this fish. The description talks of 3 pairs of barbels on rostral region, 2 pairs on lower jaw, a single pair posterior end of maxilla and of the fish having a large saddle-shaped bony plate with rugose surface in front of dorsal fin. Although the body colour is quoted as more yellow in appearance this could be to do with pigmentation increase due to a natural food source?

The B.S.C. is found in turbid waters over muddy bottoms in shallow coastal areas, also around estuaries, and coastal rivers. Reproduction is believed to take place between September and November with fertilised eggs (of 9-11mm diameter) orally incubated by the male. So, contrary to what we already knew, the sexes can be told apart, at the right time of the year, in this respect due to a bulging male mouth.

After all we have found can we actually add to the information on the assumption that we have found the right fish? Well from two visits to Flamingo Land we know that:-
- At least one of these fish has taken to aquarium life and will hold its own in the company of Pacus and a Giant Gourami.
- This fish knows Jackie and will feed from the fingers of our friend.
- Jackie tells us that, when she dons her wet suit to clean the front glass, she receives no adverse reaction from her 'pet'.
- That raw marine fish with a lettuce side salad forms the favoured food dish

With the information passed onto Jackie we await for our friend to find the time to check the written data against the living beauty of her catfish and hope we have the right fish? Whether or not we feel the data matches the living evidence playing 'fish detective' was great fun.

Finally we thank Steve for his help and Jackie for the photographs.