Giant Raphael Catfish

Deadeye

POTM Curator
Staff member
MFK Member
Aug 31, 2020
8,839
12,181
703
This includes the spines along the side of the fish? I know the smaller striped raphael can control its top spine, but I'm more concerned about the side spines of the giant raphael since they appear to be much larger than the side spines of the striped raphael's. (I used to keep an adult striped raphael with a 22 inch clown knife. They hung out in the same hiding space and had no problems, but again, the giant raphael has more fearsome side spines.)
Sorry, I misread, i thought you were talking about striped. The spines on giants look like they’d hurt, but either way I think that the catfish would have to control the spines and would only hurt a fish if it wanted to.
 

krichardson

Bronze Tier VIP
MFK Member
Jun 19, 2006
27,735
14,943
480
Datnoid Island
Which fish are they calling a Giant Raphael now?
 

krichardson

Bronze Tier VIP
MFK Member
Jun 19, 2006
27,735
14,943
480
Datnoid Island
I suspected that that was it.I dont get the name though it is a totally different species than the Raphael cat.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Backfromthedead

thebiggerthebetter

Senior Curator
Staff member
MFK Member
Dec 31, 2009
16,308
14,506
3,910
Naples, FL, USA
Sometimes the irwinis are called that name.

Having been raising 6 irwini for the last 5 years, I'd say all tank mates are safe in the vein of this thread. But no one can predict freak occurrences. In any case, the irwini lateral line scutes cannot be fathomed to cause a bad injury, just a superficial scrape or abrasion, if any.
 

TheEelKing

Piranha
MFK Member
Feb 22, 2010
596
129
76
Earth
For those of you who want to see a giant raphael catfish, here are two videos of them. Start at the 1 minute 13 second mark on the first one:

and


Those are some fearsome spines on the side!
 
Last edited:

Deadeye

POTM Curator
Staff member
MFK Member
Aug 31, 2020
8,839
12,181
703
Cool! What size tank?
 
zoomed.com
hikariusa.com
aqaimports.com
Store