Atelomycterus marmoratus

(Bennett, 1830)

Coral Catshark

Range: Indo-West Pacific Ocean: Pakistan and India to Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, New Guinea, Thailand, Viet Nam, Philippines, southern China, and Taiwan, north to Japan.

Size: 28 inches (70 cm)

Natural Environment: Inhabits crevices and holes in lagoon patch reefs, mangrove areas, and intertidal zones and usually found at depths between 3 to 15 feet (1 - 5 m) where it feeds on small fishes, shrimp, worms, crabs urchins, and other crustaceans.

General Husbandry: Rarely seen in the trade, having dark body and white belly with light spots and bars and a white tips on the dorsal.

They are best maintained in large shark and stingrays type aquariums having deep fine-grained sand, and wide-open swimming areas, peaceful, none fin-nipping tankmates and tankmates too large to be eaten. Also a large, well-filtered and well-oxygenated system with few environment obstructions, however, should have large caves and/or ledges to hide in/under, especially during daylight hours.

Do not house with large triggerfishes, angelfishes, wrasses, and pufferfishes, as they can pick on the shark and cause skin and/or eye damage.

Requires a meaty diet, i.e., preferably live grass shrimp, earthworms and/or crabs and/or chopped meaty foods such as fish flesh, shrimp, clams, scallops and earthworms and be fed two to three times weekly. Place food on the substrate near the specimen and it will find it and suck it up.

FYI: Will eat smaller tankmates.

Very sensitive to copper, therefore aquarium water should be made with RO/DI processed water.

Spends a good portion of its time resting on the bottom.

Experience Level: Expert

Temperament: Aggressive

Diet: Carnivore

Coral Safe: Yes

Fish Safe: No

Invertebrate Safe: No

Acclimation Time: 30 minutes+

Aquarium Environment: Fish-only aquarium/with caution

Tankmates: Peaceful and too large to be eaten

Minimum Tank Size: 180 gallons

Temperature Range: 72 - 84°F (22 - 28°C)

Specific Gravity: 1.020 - 1.025

pH: 8.0 - 8.5