Specialty & Rare Catfish

Eight catfish that did not fit anywhere else: electric (Malapterurus), gulper (Asterophysus batrachus), blue channel, banjo, glass (Kryptopterus), S.A. bumblebee, albino hoplo, and the pink Caqueta blind cat — each in Quarantined, Lightly Medicated and Non-Quarantined listings. Half are oddballs for a normal tank; half are serious animals.

Know which you are buying. The electric catfish is exactly that and will put a real jolt through your arm; it lives alone and you use tongs. The gulper swallows prey close to its own length and sometimes kills itself doing it. A blue channel is a native food fish that passes three feet — pond stock, not aquarium stock. Banjo, glass, bumblebee and hoplo are the four that belong in a normal community tank.