Laprade Bichir Care Guide - Aquarium Setup, Diet & Breeding

The Laprade Bichir is a striking, ancient-looking fish with an elongated, cylindrical body, a broad flattened head and a row of separate, sail-like dorsal finlets. Its body is covered in thick, armour-like ganoid scales, giving it a prehistoric appearance, while the pectoral fins and paired lobes add to its unusual, almost amphibian-like movement.

Usually olive, grey-brown or bronze above and paler underneath, this bichir is often marked with subtle darker mottling or bands. Its small eyes sit high on the head, and it relies heavily on smell and sensitive movement detection when exploring its surroundings.

Laprade Bichirs are primarily nocturnal and spend much of the day resting among cover before becoming active after dark. They are deliberate rather than fast-moving hunters, using stealth to ambush fish, crustaceans and other suitably sized aquatic animals.

Like other Polypterus, this species retains several primitive anatomical features and can breathe atmospheric air using a modified swim bladder. It is also capable of short overland movements in damp conditions, making it an especially fascinating example of an ancient freshwater lineage.

Laprade Bichirs are native to tropical West and Central Africa, with populations associated with the basins and coastal river systems of countries including Senegal, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They inhabit slow-moving rivers, floodplains, swamps and seasonal wetlands.

A single adult Laprade Bichir needs at least 450 litres, with a floor area of roughly 180 × 60 cm; a longer and wider aquarium is preferable as the fish matures. Use a secure, tightly fitting lid because bichirs are powerful escape artists and regularly surface to breathe. Provide a soft sand substrate, smooth stones, robust wood, caves and other shaded retreats, leaving generous open areas for cruising. Gentle to moderate filtration with good oxygenation is appropriate, while all decorations must be stable and free from sharp edges.

Up to 60 cm (23.6 in) in total length. Females may become slightly larger and heavier-bodied than males.

Laprade Bichirs are carnivores and should be offered a varied diet of meaty foods, including earthworms, prawns, mussels, fish fillet, insects and quality sinking carnivore pellets. Frozen foods are useful staples, while live foods can provide enrichment but should come from reliable, disease-free sources. They often feed most readily after the aquarium lights have dimmed and should not be expected to thrive on flakes or plant-based foods.

Suitable companions include large, peaceful or moderately robust fish that are too large to swallow, such as mature silver dollars, large barbs, peaceful large cichlids, datnoids and other similarly sized bichirs. Avoid small tetras, livebearers, dwarf cichlids, shrimp, snails and juvenile fish, all of which may be treated as prey. Highly aggressive cichlids and fin-nipping species are also poor choices, as they may injure this slow-moving nocturnal predator.

Laprade Bichirs are rarely bred in home aquariums because they become very large and require carefully controlled seasonal conditions. Spawning is encouraged with heavy feeding, a gradual change to softer, slightly cooler or more turbulent water, and abundant fine-leaved plants or spawning mops. The male receives eggs between his modified anal and caudal fins before fertilising them, after which the eggs are scattered among vegetation. Adults should be removed because they may eat the eggs and fry; newly hatched young need small live foods and excellent water quality.

Sexual differences are subtle. Mature males usually have a broader, thicker anal fin that forms the egg-receiving and fertilising organ during spawning, whereas females generally have a slimmer anal fin and a fuller abdomen when carrying eggs.