Common Name:
Tete Sea Catfish or Shark Catfish
Scientific Name:
Hexanematichthys seemanni
Scientific Class:
Actinopterygii
Conservation Status:
Not on the threatened species list
Habitat:
This unusual catfish is common in coastal marine, brackish waters and freshwater rivers. It is native to Pacific-draining rivers and estuaries in Central and South America. Young fish appear to favour the fresh water and migrate into salt water as they mature.
Life Expectancy:
Up to 7 years
Diet:
An omnivore but appears to enjoy frozen blood worm when in an aquarium and Blue Planet aquarium lists its diet as Fish and Peas.
Maximum Size:
35cm

Tank Breeding:
"A mouthbrooder, the few, amazingly large eggs are incubated by the male. Reproduction in the aquarium is difficult as the aquarist requires to emulate the migration from marine to fresh water and back again in a spacious aquarium. The is one verbal report of this being accomplished by an American aquarist who spawned the fish by gradually changed the water from marine to fresh water and back again over a 12 month period." from planet catfish
Interesting facts:
They have venomous dorsal spines (unconfirmed).
Private UK Aquarium:
Yes but they are difficult to keep as they grow large and their salt water needs can make it difficult. I have not found any shops selling these but a search on Aquarist classified will often find a private seller.
Blue Planet Aquarium Tank:
These Catfish are housed in a brackish tank (which is not ideal for adults as they prefer full marine) in the "where land meets sea" area. The share a tank with Scats, Monos and Archer Fish. This tank also overflows into the mud skippers and 4 eyed fish display. The two amphibious fish are occasionally seen swimming in the deeper tank.

A Storm In Coral Bay

After going away for a couple of weeks i went to the Blue Planet Aquarium to see how everything was. Well being in the middle of the summer school holiday it was packed full of families. So I put my mp3 player on and went round in my own little world.

Down in the coastal zone I found the Coral Bay exhibition being completely over hauled.

Speaking to the staff I was assured their was no problem with the existing tank. They just wanted to redesign the exhibit. The first stage being a complete strip down, clean and rebuild. The central rock work was solid and could not be removed but all the imitation coral pieces were attached either by a suction cup or by being screwed onto the base. The staff removed each piece individually to be cleaned. Below you can see the imitation coral pieces stacked up against the tank side and the shards of a big piece that broke up in the water.


But in all of this redecorating what about the fish? Most have been transported into the main massive tank. I went and had a look to see if i could find them. I found some. 1 Reef bannerfish, 1 picasso trigger fish and 2 regal tangs. The below blurred pictures shows the tangs and trigger fish. They looked very happy in their new surroundings. (they do look very small compared to their new tank mates, i hope they do well in their new home.)


But not all the fish have had this change of tanks, apparently at least 1 fish has escaped the staff nets and any attempts at catching it have so far failed. I saw its faint shape at the back of the tank but couldn't identify it. Sneaky fish!

The staff said that they haven't yet decided what the new tank will be populated with but they informed me the new display will be fully set up by the 1st of October.