Fish
We have a range of fish at Tilgate Zoo which you can see in our Discovery Room and in the area with our vasa parrots.
Lake Malawi cichlids
Scientific name
Various
Conservation status
Range from least concern to vulnerable
Diet
Insects and plants
Native habitat
Lake Malawi, eastern Africa
Did you know?
- Lake Malawi is home to more fish species than any other lake, including over 1,000 types of cichlids adapted to diverse habitats and diet
- some produce mucus for their babies to eat
- they keep their eggs and young in their mouths to keep them safe from predators
- Cichlids have two sets of jaws. One for feeding and one for sifting through mud, scraping rocks for food or looking after their babies
Blotched upside-down catfish
Scientific name
Synodontis nigriventis
Conservation status
Least concern
Diet
Insects and plants
Native habitat
Rivers in central Africa
Did you know?
- babies, known as fry, take two months to start swimming upside down
- they spend 90 per cent of their time upside down
- unlike many upside-down catfish, this one stays inverted to feed, snatching prey from the water’s surface
- their dark bellies and light backs help them blend in – camouflaging from predators above and below
Bristlenose catfish
Scientific name
Hemiancistrus cirrhosu
Conservation status
Plants and worms
Diet
What it eats
Native habitat
Rivers in Argentina
Did you know?
this fish is named after the hair-like tentacles around its nose
they belong to the armoured catfish family and have strong, bony plates instead of small scales
males defends a small cave for the female to lay eggs in. He then looks after the young fry
their mouths are on the bottom of their heads for ‘grazing’ on riverbeds
Pictus catfish
Scientific name
Pimelodus pictus
Conservation status
Least concern
Diet
Invertebrates
Native habitat
Amazon and Orinoco river basins in South America
Did you know?
their spot pattern is different in different areas
their latin name pictus means painting and refers to their spots
catfish are named after their whiskers. They have long sensory organs, like whiskers, which they use to find food
they have very sharp and firm fins which are coated in a painful toxin. This has been known to hurt people trying to catch these fish
Ghost knifefish
Scientific name
Apteronotus albifron
Conservation status
Least concern
Diet
Invertebrates
Native habitat
Freshwater habitats in South America
Did you know?
they constantly emit an electrical discharge to sense their surroundings. They can find prey in the murkiest of water
age, gender and dominance all affect the wavelengths of their electrical discharges
small fins and no scales creates a sleek silhouette for this fish – just like a knife’s blade
knifefish are one of the few fish that can swim backwards really fast
Pinstripe damba
Scientific name
Paretroplus menarambo
Conservation status
Critical
Diet
Invertebrates
Native habitat
Rivers of Madagascar
Did you know?
they were declared extinct in 2004 but luckily a new population was found in 2008
to boost wild damba numbers, fishermen must release juveniles, giving them a chance to mature and reproduce
it takes two years before dambas are old enough to reproduce
- pinstripe dambas are a type of cichlid
