Centromochlus perugiae

Order: Siluriformes
Suborder: Siluroidei
Family: Auchenipteridae
Subfamily: Centromochlinae
Genus: Centromochlus
Species: Centromochlus perugiae, Steindachner, 1882

This little driftwood catfish is also known under the common name "Honeycomb Catfish" and stays with around 7,5 cm body length rather small. The head of this fish is really round and short. The pectoral fins have little barbs on it and can be stretched out in a 90° angle. In this position this catfish can brace itself into its hiding spots, when predators try to catch it.

The overall coloration of this fish varies from white to yellow. On top of that, this species shows big, black spots almost all over the body. They can differ in size and shape but mostly resemble the pattern of a giraffe. The belly is completely white without pattern. The head region tends to be more yellowish-beige than the rest of the body.

This fish is nocturnal and hides in pieces of driftwood over the day. At night this species becomes active and searches for food mostly in the surface area. It is a really fast swimmer, which is not easy to follow with the eye. It has a non aggressive behaviour towards its own kind and other fish species.

This species is widely spread in the Upper Amazon River Basin. It can be found in Colombia, Peru and Ecuador.

It inhabits different habitats but prefers places with a lot of driftwood to hide in. The water temperature there ranges from 26 - 28 °C and shows a slightly acidic pH. This species does better in not to fast streaming water.

Centromochlus perugiae is a strict carnivore which hunts in the night. In nature its diet consists mainly of insects, insect larvae, worms, little crustaceans, small fish and fish larvae.

In captivity this species can be fed with various food sorts. As long as it contains mostly animal proteins, it doen't really matter which kind of food it is. From life, frozen and dry food, everything is taken. It is adviseable to feed this species, when the light is out, since it is mostly to shy to eat during the day. Floating food, like flakes, granules and white mosquito larvae are taken the best, since C. perugiae hunts under the surface of the water. In tanks with no other fish, this fish shows itself a bit more often over the day to eat.

Since this is a rather small species it doesn't need much space. It can be kept in aquariums from 80 cm length upwards.

The technical equipment should be a filtration, an internal heater and maybe (not necessary) a small streaming pump. Lights are only necessary if there are plants in the tank or other tank mates, which need light.

The aquarium should be decorated with small ceramic caves and pieces of driftwood for the fish to hide in. Over the day this fish is mostly not really active and prefers to hide in the dark. As substrate gravel and sand can be used. For spawning also small ceramic caves can be used, which should be installed in the upper area of the tank.

This fish prefers to be in little groups of 3 - 6 animals of both sexes. It can be kept together with other fish, as long as they don't see it as food, since C. perugiae stays rather small. Swallowing this fish can cause damage to the predator-fish, since the pointy and hard fins rays of this fish can get tangled in the mouth. So it's better not to put them together with bigger cichlids and similar predators. C. perugiae itself is a friendly fish which is only at night a rather active swimmer, which could annoy sleeping diurnal fish.

With a body size of around 5 cm this fish can be sexed rather easy. This species fertilizes eggs internally which is done with a reshaped anal fin (similar to the gonopodium of Xiphophorus hellerii).

Males show therefore a pointy and narrower anal fin, where as female show a normal shaped anal fin. Females tend to be bigger and rounder, especially when being pregnant.

This species has a very special way to reproduce. Adult females get fertilized by the males over a reshaped anal fin. The female than saves the sperm to fertilize the eggs inside of her body. It searches then for a spawning spot, which are mostly small caves in the surface area. In the wild, crevices in driftwood are used. The female then takes care of the egg batch till the larvae hatch. Since this species doens't have really big fins to fan fresh water to the eggs, this work is done by panting movements of the mouth and gills.

In captivity eggbatches in ceramic caves can be easy transferred into a breeding box, where the small larvae then can hatch in a more controlled environment. The babies can be fed with dust food or really small living food like artemia nauplia or micro worms.