Brachyplatystoma juruense Breeding Guide

The zebra shovelnose Brachyplatystoma juruense is a long-distance migratory goliath catfish that spawns near the Andes and is never bred at home.

Overview

Brachyplatystoma juruense, the zebra shovelnose or zebra catfish, is a striped long-whiskered catfish of the family Pimelodidae found in the Amazon and Orinoco basins of South America. FishBase records a maximum total length around 60 cm in freshwater, demersal habitats and lists it as Least Concern; it is one of the migratory goliath catfishes.

Spawning Behavior & Trigger

Goliath catfishes of the genus Brachyplatystoma undertake some of the longest freshwater migrations known, moving upstream to spawn in the far western Amazon, in or near the Andes. For B. juruense, spawning is confirmed in western Amazon tributaries, with the maximum distance from the estuary to larval capture points reported around 4,238 km. After spawning, early life stages drift passively downstream, and larval densities peak during the rainy season.

Egg & Fry Care

Reproduction depends on accessing oxygen-rich Andean tributaries, followed by downstream larval drift toward distant nursery areas. There is no parental care and no possible home-aquarium fry-rearing protocol.