Electric catfish

FishForums.net Pet of the Month
🐶 POTM Poll is Open! 🦎 Click here to Vote! 🐰

ste2k3

Retired Moderator
Retired Moderator ⚒️
Joined
Jul 31, 2003
Messages
1,886
Reaction score
0
Location
North Devon
Common name: Electric catfish

Scientific name: Malapterurus electricus

Family: Malapteruridae

Origin: throughout Central Africa

Maximum size: up to 39" but usually no larger than 12"

Care: This is not a very active cat so dosn't need as much space as some of the other cats such as pims, although due to the size of this fish i would not keep them in anything less than a 48"x30"x24"deep tank. They need to be provided with pleanty of hiding places such as logs/bogwood, tubes etc, dim lighting is prefered. When maintaining the tank, a great deal of care is needed not to stress the fish as these can deliver a nasty shock. I had one at 3" which I got 2 shocks off. It is not really dangerous apart from people with heart problems and young children.

Feeding: Blood worm and chopped mussel are fine whilst young but as they grow, they prefer meaty foods such as lance fish/smelt.

Breeding: I have never heard of this fish being bred in captivity but there are reports that it is a cave spawner in the wild.

Comments: So how is the electricity produced?

When observed through a microscope, the electric organ is seen to be composed of a series of disc-like modified muscle cells called electroplates, stacked in piles like coins, embedded in a jelly like substance and held together by connective tissue to form a tube.
Nerve fibrils connect to one surface of each electroplate, and many blood vessels supply the jelly-like material.
Although the electrical potential of each electroplate is very small, the “wiring” of the plates in series, and the columns in parallel, means that a much higher voltage can be produced.

(will get a better pic ASAP)
 

Attachments

  • Picture_035.jpg
    Picture_035.jpg
    14 KB · Views: 210
I snapped this at the petshop a few days ago
 

Attachments

  • Electric_cat.jpg
    Electric_cat.jpg
    95.7 KB · Views: 225

Most reactions

trending

Staff online

Back
Top