CLOSE UP Hand Feeding Redtail Catfish (Banana Catfish)
Time to hand-feed our baby Amazon Redtail Catfish for the first time.
At just 3 months old, their growth rate is incredibly fast compared to our other fish species.
Always looking for their next meal, they're not shy about taking food out of your hand.
The redtail catfish, Phractocephalus hemioliopterus, is a large species of South American pimelodid (long-whiskered) catfish.
It is known in Venezuelan Spanish as cajaro; in Guyana, it is known as a Banana Catfish; in Brazil it is known as pirarara, a fusion of words from the indigenous Tupi language: pirá and arara.
It is the only extant species of its genus, Phractocephalus.
The redtail catfish is quite common in the aquarium trade, although it is often sold in its juvenile state, only measuring a few centimetres or inches at the time of sale. Additionally, they are often sold with little to no information for novice or uninformed buyers, with vague warnings, if any, regarding the fish's massive adult size. Thus, many redtail catfish are sold and subsequently purchased as very small specimens, soon outgrowing their new aquariums—something which makes them highly unsuitable for all but the largest, usually public, aquariums (or outdoor stock tanks, pools, ponds, lakes, etc).
Unfortunately, many were likely purchased by uninformed shoppers when young and later released by these same individuals when their true size and voracity became evident. In this way, humans have directly contributed to the species' spreading in areas outside of its natural range.
Hatchling (fry) and juvenile redtail catfish are most likely to be consumed by various aquatic and terrestrial predators.
Larger adult specimens generally have little to fear, becoming voracious, opportunistic hunters themselves. Nevertheless, at any age or size, the redtail catfish is always at risk of being consumed by humans, jaguars, giant otters, Orinoco and American crocodiles, and caimans, among other species.
Unlike other bottom-dwelling catfish species, the redtail is an active swimmer and does not lie in wait on the river bottom to ambush passing prey. The redtail catfish is also not a picky eater known for consuming anything that fits into its mouth. Meals range from other types of fishes, crustaceans, aquatic worms, and even amphibians, such as frogs, to fallen fruits, seeds and tree nuts, such as those of palms or Ficus.
In captivity, it has been reported that the redtail catfish will eat dry cat food.
🏆 PATREON / kartoongallagher
🏅 MEMBER / @tlfarm
0:00 Intro to feeding baby retail catfish
0:05 Collecting free catfish food
1:37 Feeding baby redtail catfish live food
2:31 Hand-feeding baby redtail catfish
3:03 Close-up slow-motion footage of hand-feeding redtail catfish