# Blue Shark/Whale Catfish (Cetopsis. coecutiens)



## Erratic-Fish-Finatic (Apr 23, 2012)

Feb. 10 /2013
For individuals unfimilar with this species of predatory catfish, please refer to these links. You'll understand what I mean, when I say they're pretty much miniature great white sharks.

http://www.seriouslyfish.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/cetopsis_coecutiens_2.jpg

http://www.planetcatfish.com/images/full(r)/cetopsidae/cetopsis/coecutiens/20.jpg

http://www.aquatiek.nl/blog/wp-content/uploads/CETOPSIS_COECUTIENS_AQUATIEK_WIJK_BIJ_DUURSTEDE.jpg

http://www.planetcatfish.com/images/full(r)/cetopsidae/cetopsis/coecutiens/18.jpg

Here's also two vids of these predatory shark catfish in action.






Here's some pics of mine though, pics taken when I was floating their bag. Really hard to take pics of these guys, as they are extremely fast. Had a harder time trying to get clear pics of these guys than any of my piranhas that I've owned in the past years. Once again I apologize for the blurry pics.









































































I'll get more pics after I have accimilated them to their new home.


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## Erratic-Fish-Finatic (Apr 23, 2012)

Feb. 13 /2013
Got some tragic news guys, yesterday afternoon I lost one of my sharks due to what I think may have been an attempt at cannabalism. I found him on the bottom of the tank dead, with some teeth marks riddled all over it's body and a few chuncks missing from it's snout and it's left eye socket. The perp was the largest in my trio, his plump belly pretty much told me it was the culprit. 
Now I'm down to 2 sharks, which are occasionally chasing and nipping eachother every few hours. I'm not sure what's causing the overly aggressive behaviour, I mean the 2" little buggers are in a 50 gallon tank with a bunch of rocks and driftwood, so they should have enough room and hiding places. The temp is at 27-28 C as recommend from a few other keepers of this species that I've spoken to as well.


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## Erratic-Fish-Finatic (Apr 23, 2012)

Feb. 14 /2013
Damn...researched a bit around the web and came across a few articles which talk about how cannabalistic these cats can be, especially as juvies, sibling cannabalism is a recurring behaviour amongst this species.
These guys are pretty much the quadruple threat in the predatory fish category. Not only are they aggressive (more so than piranhas), but they are territorial, cannabalistic and most of all parasitic.
This catfish belongs to a group of parasitic catfish know as candiru. They'll often attack larger fish in the wild and burrow holes into their victims/hosts. From inside their prey, they'll start eating them hollow until there's nothing left and once that's done they burrow back out.
I'm going to divide the tank now, don't want to lose another one.


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## bigfishy (Jun 19, 2009)

you can say, they are the fresh water version of the cookie cutter shark


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## Erratic-Fish-Finatic (Apr 23, 2012)

bigfishy said:


> you can say, they are the fresh water version of the cookie cutter shark


Yeah...I guess so haha. Appearance wise they're more like great whites, but yeah definitely behaviour wise they're like cookie cutters.


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## djtbster (Nov 29, 2006)

Not to jack the thread but Jeremy wade from river monster highlighted these catfish in one of his episodes


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## Spicoli (Dec 11, 2012)

How did you end up with those guys? Did you get als to order them in for you? And if you don't mind what sorta money did those things go for?


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## Ryan.Wilton (Dec 12, 2012)

He's also highlighted Piranaha, does that mean people don't keep them? Awesome looking fish, I had one of these guys a long time ago but he jumped ship on me so I didn't have him for long sadly.

I'd love to see some pictures of them actually in the tank.


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## Erratic-Fish-Finatic (Apr 23, 2012)

Spicoli said:


> How did you end up with those guys? Did you get als to order them in for you? And if you don't mind what sorta money did those things go for?


BigAl's Mississauga actually had them in stock. They said they don't normal order them, but when they ordered their piranha shipment, the suppier said he had some of these catfish and asked if BigAl's wanted them, so BigAl's happily accepted. I paid $50 for the trio, they were being sold for $18 each. Petty cheap for such a rare fish in the trade, but when you find out they're actually parasites, it's kind of expensive for a parasite lol.


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## Erratic-Fish-Finatic (Apr 23, 2012)

Ryan.Wilton said:


> He's also highlighted Piranaha, does that mean people don't keep them? Awesome looking fish, I had one of these guys a long time ago but he jumped ship on me so I didn't have him for long sadly.
> I'd love to see some pictures of them actually in the tank.


I know how you feel, I had three to begin with and now I'm down to 1 because the dominant one killed my others. After doing some readings on this species in the pet trade it seems that they're not a catfish people want to keep. Mainly due to their nature and most people say these cats are just flatout ugly, which I don't understand lol.
In some States, these catfish are illegal, due to how much damage they can do to the local wildlife. Basically on the same level of a snakehead, but here in Canada, we don't need to worry as the cold will kill these guys.
I'll try post up some pics later today, if I can.


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## Ryan.Wilton (Dec 12, 2012)

Sounds good 

I find all catfish awesome looking, even ones that are commonly considered ugos.


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