Trichomycterid pix   4/12/06
Jean Claude ADROVER            12/04
Naturalist
7 rue BERGHEAUD 7
31000 TOULOUSE
     FRANCE
                      Dr. Robert FENNER,
Please tell me if exist a figure of these TRICHOMYCTERIDAE I don't find :G MIUROGLANIS and SCHULTZICHTHYS.
If exist please send me a copy. Thank you in advance. Sincerely.
<Mmm, have you checked on fishbase.org? Google images? Likely a visit/bibliographic search at a large college library will show whether
there are graphics for these (possibly just line drawings or such). I do not have photos of these. Robare Fenner>

Candiru requirements in captivity  8/30/05
I was wondering what the requirements are for the requirements are for
keeping Candiru (Vandellia cirrhosa or Ochmacanthus orinoco) in captivity
successfully. what would you feed them, compatibility, husbandry, and can more
than more Candiru be kept in the same tank? I would like to possibly keep a
couple of them in captivity.
CJ
<Mmm, for scientific purposes these fishes have been kept for study... thus far (as far as I'm aware natch), trying to feed them "parts" of other fish life has failed... and thus they have been kept with fishes that they feed upon live... Not compatible with other fishes, not able to be kept in mix-species settings. There may be more... by "doing" a search of scientific literature. Bob Fenner>

You should never pee in the Amazon River... (OUCH!!)
Dear Cecil:
In the past I have heard tell that you should never pee in the Amazon River
lest a certain fish swim upstream into your penis and lock its fins in place
in your urethra. Of course I always dismissed this as a tall tale spread by
the natives to scare tourists. However, I read recently in the newspaper
about the Candiru fish, which allegedly does just this. Please gimme the
straight poop. --Chase Kimball, via the Internet
<Tis so. Bob Fenner>
Dear Chase:
Can't blame you for your skepticism--this is one of those stories you want
desperately not to believe. Here's a description from a 1973 article in
Urology by John Herman:
One of the strangest [stories from the Amazon concerned] a fish that was
urinophilic and could swim up the urethra or into the vagina of the unwary
native who urinated while bathing in the Amazon. It was said that this fish,
known as Candiru [in Brazil; as carnero in Spanish-speaking countries], was
long, thin, and capable of forcing its way into the body's passageways
following the trail of urine. Once inside it would eat away the mucous
membranes and tissues until hemorrhage would kill it or the host. It was
also said that even if one caught the fish by the tail, once in the urethra
it could not be pulled out because it would spread itself like an umbrella.
Indeed, rumors had it that penectomy was preferred to the misery and pain
associated with leaving the fish in the urethra!
Yeah, I know. I crossed my legs too.
Herman's article is titled, "Candiru: Urinophilic Catfish, Its Gift to
Urology," which doesn't seem like the world's most sensitive take on the
subject. However, the author refers not to the financial opportunities for
urologists but to an anti-Candiru folk remedy useful in treating bladder and
kidney problems. More on this below.
Are stories about the Candiru true? Although many mentions of the Candiru
can be found on-line and in popular books and magazines, scientific accounts
of the fish and its unfortunate habits are old and suspiciously few. Most of
what we know comes from the 1930 book The Candiru by Dr. Eugene W. Gudger of
the American Museum of Natural History, plus a couple additional articles
published in the '40s. All sources insist that the incredible story is true,
but for evidence they rely mostly on vague second- or third hand reports from
missionaries, doctors, natives, and the like. Even the doctors' accounts
tend to lack persuasive detail, although one article (Lins, Journal of
Urology, 1945) claims a U.S. navy surgeon named Charles Ammerman operated on
three Candiru victims, in one case slicing into the bladder to extract the
fish.
Whatever the truth may be, there's little doubt that the Candiru, formally
known as Vandellia cirrhosa, is capable of attacking humans in the manner
described. A type of catfish, the Candiru is known to lodge in the gill
cavities of larger fish, where it subsists by sucking the blood of its host.
Specimens average three inches in length and a quarter inch in diameter. A
fast, powerful swimmer, the fish is smooth and slimy, with sharp teeth and
backward-pointing spines on its gill covers that make it virtually
impossible to remove. Still, it's difficult to imagine how even the most
agile of fishes could squirm into someone's penis during a brief dip in the
water, and in fact one account says women are much more likely to be Candiru
victims due to the greater dimensions of the female aperture.
One suggestive bit of evidence is a folk remedy used by Amazon natives,
namely the green fruit of the jaguar tree, Genipa americana L. The juice of
this fruit is brewed into a tea and drunk hot, supposedly causing the
skeleton of the fish to dissolve and resulting in its expulsion from the
victim within a couple hours. Early observers scoffed at the effectiveness
of this concoction, but in 1945 urologist Eugenio Lins reported that a
synthetic version of the brew had dissolved bladder "incrustations" in a
dozen patients and suggested that it might do the same for kidney stones.
Some elements of the Candiru legend are clearly exaggerated. There are no
confirmed reports of deaths or penectomies--several cases of the latter are
thought to have run afoul of piranha. It's uncertain whether the Candiru is
actually "urinophilic," and as far as I know, no one seriously maintains
that it can swim out of the water and up a urine stream. Just the same, next
time my yacht cruises down the Amazon, I ain't peeing over the side.
One last thing. Lest you think the Candiru is all bad news, one visionary
has proposed them, apparently seriously, as a key prong in a "fish-based
security system" for the South Pacific--see
www.spc.org.nc/coastfish/Reports/misc/wp99/candiru.htm. You dig a moat
around your house, see, and stock it with Candiru, piranha, and electric
eels. "Should the housebreaker fortuitously not be attacked by the electric
eels or the piranha then there is a good chance that he will suffer the
invasive penetration of the Candiru into the urethra." Is that brilliant or
what? OK, you might lose a few pets or small children, too, but at least
your silverware will be safe.

Cetospid whale catfish Hey, Bob <Hello Antoine>    Look what I peeped at the LFS... the little bastard came charging at me when it saw that I had a hangnail. (three pics attached... I think <G>... got bumped from your hotmail) <What a neat fish>    A ferocity the likes of which I have not seen since the furry white bunny rabbit of Death. Yep... I had to bust out the holy hand grenade to stop it <G>. <Run away! Run away!>    In truth... the poor bugger seemed to be under considerable duress... paced faster than an ADDH child on a sugar rush. <No Ritalin for him, please!>   Crop or delete as you see fit :) <Hotay, thanks. Bob F>