Senegal Bichir

The Senegal bichir (Polypterus senegalus) is an African river fish with an ancient look: an eel-like grey body, hard armour-like scales, a row of small separate finlets along the back, and thick pectoral fins it uses to shuffle along the bottom. It is a slow, deliberate predator that hunts largely by smell, and it is worth watching at feeding time.

Aquarium care

• An air breather. It must be able to reach the surface, so never fill the tank tight to a sealed lid.
• A firm, weighted lid over every opening. Bichirs are determined escape artists and will find any gap.
• Grows large and long, so plan on a wide, long tank with plenty of floor area.
• Soft substrate, caves and wood to lie under during the day.
• Feed meaty foods such as sinking carnivore pellets, frozen bloodworm and prawn. They eat slowly and are easily outcompeted.
• Eyesight is poor, so give them time to locate food on the bottom.

Tankmates need to be too big to swallow, yet not so fast that the bichir never gets a meal: larger barbs, bigger characins, synodontis catfish and similar African species work well. Anything that fits in the mouth will eventually disappear.

Stock rotates, and local pickup is available at our Lethbridge store. Browse freshwater fish.