🐟 Banjo Catfish (Bunocephalus coracoideus)
Leaf-Shaped Camouflage Master • A Fascinating, Peaceful Bottom Dweller • Rewards Target-Feeding
 
📋 The Banjo Catfish is one of the most unusual fish in the hobby: a leaf-shaped bottom dweller with cryptic, mottled camouflage, native to the slow creeks, ponds, and forest streams of the Amazon basin in Peru, Brazil, and Bolivia. It's the most commonly traded species in its genus, and although Bunocephalus has 14 recognised species with very similar "banjo catfish" names, B. coracoideus is the one most keepers will meet.
It's peaceful with every tankmate, spending the day buried in sand or leaf litter and coming out at night, so you'll enjoy watching it settle in. Because it's so calm and buried, it's happiest when it's fed directly: offer sinking foods near its resting spot after lights out, using a turkey baster if you like, and check that it's gaining condition. Keep an eye on new tankmates to make sure none nip at the quiet, partly buried catfish, and keep the substrate clean.
 
💡 Highlights
🍃 Leaf-Like Camouflage: A cryptic, mottled pattern
🎯 Rewards Target-Feeding: Feed near its resting spot after lights out
🏖️ Substrate Burrower: Buries in sand or leaf litter by day
🕊️ Peaceful With Everything: Never predatory toward tankmates
🌟 The Most Common Banjo Species: Readily available in the trade