Salmon Catfish

Neoarius graeffei

General information: Also known as Lesser Salmon Catfish, Blue Catfish, Forktail Catfish. The specimens collected from the Daly River in the NT have been sold as Berney's Catfish in the past. Juveniles are very good display fish in the aquarium. They like their water temperature over 18 Deg C up to about 32 Deg C. They eat any meaty foods, fond of chopped or whole prawns. They will eat other aquarium subjects they can fit in their mouths. When juvenile a 90 cm aquarium will be ok for two or three buts they grow to about 60cm as adults they will need a larger aquarium. They have venemous spines and if you are not careful handling this species you may have a very painful jab with a nasty sensation that lasts a few hours. First aid treatment is water as hot as you can stand, test water with good hand first to avoid scalding. They are schooling fish and when kept in a small school grunt under water with a series of short grunts that is audible across the room outside the aquarium. They are mouth brooders and the male holds eggs in his mouth until their egg yoke sac is absorbed. They have spawned naturally in the large public aquarium at Territory Wildlife Park Aquarium but generally will not breed in smaller aquariums.

Distribution : The northern half of Australia in the coastal drainages

Selling details : Sold as individual fish

Reference: Allen, Midgley and Allen 2002 "Field Guide to the Freshwater Fishes of Australia" , ANGFA database - http://db.angfa.org.au/