NINJA WOOD CATFISH (tatia musaica)

June 03,2024

A true beauty of the genus, the ninja wood cat (Tatia musaica) is only rarely seen, and often at a very high price. I don’t know where the common name comes from, but I assume some marketing-minded importer just really liked the word “ninja.” The pattern of these fish reminds me of an orca—dark black on top, with a white underbelly, and patches of the two mixed in between. A very small fish, it won’t reach more than about 2 inches (5 cm).A bit more delicate than the other Tatia species above, T. musaica is completely intolerant of poor water conditions. I can find no reliable sources indicating that this species has been spawned in the aquarium, though reproduction is presumably similar to other members of the genus.