Mekong giant catfish

Catfish are named for the whisker-like barbels around their mouth. Unlike other catfish, Mekong giant catfish lose these barbels in adulthood. This isn’t the only change that comes with age. Young fry cannibalise one another and feed on zooplankton (tiny animals in the water), using three different types of teeth. But by the time they’re a year old, they resorb their teeth and become completely toothless herbivores.

Our catfish are fed pellet balls are made from herbi-pellets, herbi-gel and oats. Flaxseed is added to hold them all together. This mixture is pushed into PVC pipes and then left in the freezer overnight. The hardened mixture is pushed out from the pipes, sliced and moulded into shape. 30 to 45 minutes are spent on the preparation of these balls and our aquarists have exacting standards – each perfectly-shaped ball is almost the same size.

Our giant catfish may all look the same to you but our aquarists can differentiate them by their colour and size. One is totally black. Another has a black spot on its stomach. A third one has a break in its dorsal fin. Can you tell them apart?

When they first arrived, our catfish measured 1.6 to 2 metres and weighed in at 20 kilograms. They're now almost double their weight. In the wild, Mekong giant catfish have been reported to grow up to 3 metres in length and weigh over 300 kilograms.