|
. |
|
Myanmar Freshwater Fishes |
|
Hein Aquarium |
|
Go to previous page Back to Family List Go to next page
Family Chacidae
Chacidic catfish (OR) Squarehead catfish
The fish under family Chacidae composes of a small number of species fish, consisting of only 3 species. They are Chaca chaca from India, Chaca bankanensis from Southeast Asia and Chaca burmensis from Myanmar. The fish has extremely depressed and square wide head. The eyes are very small compare to the size of the head. They can camouflage with their surrounding, thus their colors are completely similar to the color of the bottom substrate. The fish are quiet and still in the tank, but they are predator. They ambush the preys for their food. These square head catfish should not keep with small fish.
Chaca burmensis Brown and Ferraris. 1988
Square head catfish
Picture by Ye Hein Htet (Hein Aquarium)
Explanation of scientific name: The generic name Chaca is native name, and the specific name burmensis refers to (Burma) Myanmar, the species was recorded for the first time from Myanmar.
Original description: Chaca lophioides Day 1877, Fishes of India: 481 (Burma)
Distribution: Myanmar, Sittaung River and Ayeyawady River.
Habitat: Freshwater, streams, rivers or lakes especially under rock or stones.
Characters: The body of the fish is flat and stump; head broad and depressed. The mouth is terminal and very wide. The dorsal fin is small, an anal fin base is long. Pectoral fins is broad shelf along the length of its posterior surface. There are flashy papillae along lateral surface of body above lateral line, usually in pairs, often surrounding the eyes.
Sex differences: The female is bulky
Aquarium keeping: The bottom substrate should be coarse sand. Water quality is not very critical. Similar species tank is more preferable.
Spawning: Four numbers of the fish were put in 120 liters bare tank with a piece of drift wood and eight inches long pipes. Water pH should be 7.5 and hardness of dH = 4o. Eggs were usually deposited late in the evening, inside the pipe, and by morning spawning was complete and giving about 400 eggs. One fish from the pair, probably the male, should keep inside the pipe in order to guard the eggs. The eggs, started hatching within 48 hrs. Once the parent fish should remains with the hatching until they become free swimming. The fry were fed with brine shrimp nauplii and later change the feed to Daphnia species of zooplankton.
|
|
To contact us: |
