The Barred Sorubim Catfish, also called the Barred Tiger Shovelnose and Barred Tiger Sorubim, is a long-whiskered species,
native to Guyana and Suriname.
It is a nocturnal, predatory catfish eating other fish and crustaceans, using its long barbels to find prey at night.
In the day, its stripes give camouflage amongst tall plants.
It can grow to a metre long. There are several similar species in the same genus, some with the same or similar common names.
Another called the Barred Sorubim is P. reticulatum, native to the Amazon and La Plata basins and grows to 60cm long.
The Spotted Tiger Shovelnose, P. punctifer, is native to most of the upper, middle and lower Amazon Basin and grows to 1.4 metres.
The Tiger Sorubim, P. tigrinum, also called the Tiger Shovelnose like all of the above, and also native to the Amazon basin, can reach 1.3 metres long.