What is a blue dolphin shark?

[KateA.]

I've been trying to find info on this fish. It looks like a blind, sort-of-irridescent shark kinda thing. Supposedly eats live food and nips most anything. We've got one for sale right now and I have no idea how big it gets or any other info. :confused:

[wetmanNY]

Doesn't the distributor use the scientific name?

"Blue Dolphin Shark" isn't an authentic "common name," but a made-up "fancy name" invented by the wholesaler. A www.google.com search, which usually dredges up the real name, got nothing with this moniker.

[crash]

My pet peeve with fish.. or the LFS's is how ten names get thrown on the same fish, even with scientific names, a species may or may not go about a variety of them, of course this depends on who you ask.

Anyway's I've never heard of this Blue Dolphin Shark, however if you say it's looke similiar to an Iridescent Shark

Try searches on
Pangasius Catfish
Pangasius Pangasius
Paroon Sharks
Black-Fin Sharks/Columbian Shark
Berney's Shark Catfish/Australian Shark Catfish

Lots, and I mean lots of catfish are out there, that somewhat resemble "marine" sharks. Most of these kinds of fish, outgrow home aquariums, however some are be able to kept in 100 gallon tanks or less.

Also a note about the Paroon Shark(which I think looks most like a shark out all catfish during it's subadult stage), if that turns out to be your interesting looking catfish, the common Pangasius sanitswongi, they get huge, some say anywhere from 3-6 feet. However, some people also there's smaller very very similiar subspecies. Planet Catfish said there's been a smaller hybrid of the Paroon Shark in order (well they said artificial) to keep down it's low size and keep it's attracting looks. None of these I can seem to get confirmed, so who knows. I've included some pictures of these guys, as junveniles, very small adults.

Good places to look:
Here at AquariaCentral.Com Check out some of the species profiles of the above catfish.

Planetcatfish.com has a good resource and picture library.

Scotcat.com is also good, but I find there site kind of hard to navigate, but still very good.

Hopefully this will help you find what your looking for.

[JSchmidt]

Sometimes the african cichlid, Cyrtocara moori, is referred to as the blue dolphin, but I've never heard of a blue dolphin shark...

Here's a link to a pic of a moori, in case that helps...

http://malawicichlids.com/mw08033.htm

Jim

[OrionGirl]

http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.cfm?genusname=Coryphaena&speciesname=equiselis

Blue dolphin fish---not an aquarium fish. Nothing comes up in Fish Base for dolphin shark or dolphin minnow. Can you post a pic?

[VoodooChild]

Alot of people up here refer to the irridescent shark as an irridescent dolphin...perhaps your LFS has the albino versions or just a different geographic form.

[KateA.]

Thanks for all the help. I will check out some of those catfish sights.

I'm a LFS retailer/manager and I'm thoroughly frustrated with the lack of non-scientific names that are used at the wholesale level. They make up names quite often. It especially frustrates me with the marine fish! I try to tag all fish with the common and scientific name, just so my crew can learn the names correctly. I mean, I get customers spewing off the scientific names and their face goes blank. Well, mine does to sometimes, but sometimes I get a clue in the name somewhere!:D

I'm afraid this fish will be quite large, this is what the wholesaler told me, but no specifics. And I think it is blind. The eye area is very opaque. And it swims kinda with it's head up higher than the rest of his body. Kinda pale blue with a shark body, front of nose very blunt, no whiskers.

Ah well, I'll keep looking.

[Rare Cichlids]

Cetopsis Catfish

I know nothing about this fish but it fits your description very well. Not a huge fish though. I think they reach around 12-18". They are said to actually "burrow" into larger fish. A real vampire.


This is a rare fish. Same family as the Candiru actually. Look at the Cetopsis coecutiens in the Cetopsidae family at www.planetcatfish.com to check indentification.

[KateA.]

Thanks! That was it: Cetopsis coecutiens, or Whale Catfish. One site had some laying along side a persons foot for size comparison and another site said 30-35 cm/13"-14". Whew! I'm glad it's not one of those huge monsters! They had the attitude part right, too, and one site said that one had been cut open (in the wild) and it had eaten all sorts of things including fish, bugs and larvae.

[Rare Cichlids]

Glad to help

[damion]

Seen one the other day at lfs. Looks like a shark w/round head and pin holes for eyes. Checked planet catfish but it didn't have much info on them. Did anyone find another site that provided info?

[wetmanNY]

damion, www.scotcat.com has a very brief entry, essentially saying this fish is found in the whole Amazon basin.. And a poster to the Aquatic-Plants Digest in 2000 was as mystified by two (in a densely planted tank) he had: http://fins.actwin.com/aquatic-plants/month.200006/msg00293.html

The website Amazonian Fishes and their habitat http://www.amazonian-fish.co.uk/indexagen.html
has this disquieting entry: "Cetopsidae:
This group of open water catfish have a distinctive rounded form to their naked bodies. They are streamlined with small eyes protected by a layer of skin. This family holds four genera, Hemicetopsis, Pseudocetopsis, Cetopsogiton and Cetopsis. These are predatory fish that will attack injured fish and animals much larger than themselves, literally burrowing into the flesh. They frequently damage fish caught in gill nets before they can be removed by the fishermen. They are known to burrow deep into the bodies of dead animals, including man."

All this and more from a www.google.com search "Cetopsis" Try it yourself!

[damion]

Thanks, was thinking of getting it as tankmate for an aro but don't want to take the chance of it burrowing through.

[sgtbungo]

I actually just bought 2 blue dolphin sharks today, they cost 12.50 each.

will post pics soon :shark:

[BHolmes]

I've had mine now for a little over 30 days. When they're young they are not too aggresive. He will only eat fish that fit in his mouth (small guppies and gold fish). He also really loves flake food. He's been in a tank for the last month with 2 Discus, 2 Angels, Chocolate Gourami and a Black Ghost Knife. I'm building a specific 20gal tank just for him this thursday. He'll be one of my trophies. It is awsome to watch him feed. Just like a shark.
http://i913.photobucket.com/albums/ac340/FamilyFriendsPlaces/100_0769.jpg

[Carla G]

damion, www.scotcat.com (http://www.scotcat.com) has a very brief entry, essentially saying this fish is found in the whole Amazon basin.. And a poster to the Aquatic-Plants Digest in 2000 was as mystified by two (in a densely planted tank) he had: http://fins.actwin.com/aquatic-plants/month.200006/msg00293.html

The website Amazonian Fishes and their habitat http://www.amazonian-fish.co.uk/indexagen.html
has this disquieting entry: "Cetopsidae:
This group of open water catfish have a distinctive rounded form to their naked bodies. They are streamlined with small eyes protected by a layer of skin. This family holds four genera, Hemicetopsis, Pseudocetopsis, Cetopsogiton and Cetopsis. These are predatory fish that will attack injured fish and animals much larger than themselves, literally burrowing into the flesh. They frequently damage fish caught in gill nets before they can be removed by the fishermen. They are known to burrow deep into the bodies of dead animals, including man."

All this and more from a www.google.com (http://www.google.com) search "Cetopsis" Try it yourself!

Oh YUCK!!! Don't want one of those in my tank! :yuck:

[Slappy*McFish]

Here's another thread from prehistoric times. ;)