Flatnose Catfish

About

Found in the river basins of west-central Africa, from Cameroon's Sanaga River south through to Angolan drainages and into the northern Congo basin, Anaspidoglanis macrostoma is a mid-sized catfish that tends to fly under the radar in the hobby despite being a genuinely interesting fish to keep. It's an opportunistic omnivore in the wild, readily picking off insect larvae, crustaceans, fish eggs and fry, and plant matter alike. Which tells you a lot about both its feeding flexibility in captivity and its general disposition toward smaller tankmates. Don't plan on housing it with anything it can fit in its mouth. Territorial by nature, it can be aggressive toward other bottom dwellers and particularly intolerant of its own kind, so if you're keeping more than one you'll need a well-thought-out setup with plenty of hiding spots and broken sightlines. True to its burrowing habits, it will rearrange substrate enthusiastically and root up any plants that aren't well anchored, so go with hardy species or skip live plants in its zone altogether. A 55-gallon tank is the starting point for a single adult, and this is a fish best suited to someone with experience managing territorial bottom-dwellers. Given the right setup, though, it's a durable and behaviorally engaging species.