Zebra Shovelnose Catfish Brachyplatystoma tigrinum

The Zebra Shovelnose Catfish, also called the Tiger-striped Shovelnose, is a long-whiskered species native to fast-flowing waters in the upper Amazon in Brazil, Colombia and Peru. It is a nocturnal, predatory catfish eating other fish. A large adult grows typicaly to some 60cm long but can reach 85cm. The stripes reduce in area as the fish matures.

Despite the scientific name tigrinum, this species is usually called zebra in its common name, but there are several other barred catfish with the name tiger. In particular, there is one in another genus, the Tiger Sorubim, P. tigrinum, also called the Tiger Shovelnose, also native to the Amazon basin, which can reach 1.3 metres long.