Scientific Name. Pollimyrus castelnaui ?

Behavior
There are several species of fish that vary in shape and are called Baby Whales. All Baby Whales quarrel with each other. They have an interesting shape that looks like a miniature whale. They are not closely related to the mammals called whales, but it's fun to call them Baby Whales.

Baby Whales are members of a group of fishes called Mormyrids. Click here to read a brief article from the Encyclopedia Britannica about this group of fish.

Appropriate Home
An aquarium with at least 29 gallons of water, an exterior power filter with a bio-wheel, a maximum of 1/4 inch of gravel, and an aquarium heater adjusted to a temperature between 78 and 82 degrees F. Click here for more about warm water aquariums.

Each Baby Whale needs its own cave or piece of plastic pipe as a home. Be sure the rocks or pieces of pipe and everything else you put in your aquarium will not contaminate the water. Click here for more about how to avoid contaminating your aquarium.

Be sure their aquarium has a cover because Baby Whales are active jumpers. You should also cover all the holes in the cover. Use clean pieces of plastic cut from plastic milk cartons and attach them with strong tape. Click here for more about aquarium covers.

Recommended Diet
Live Black Worms and other live foods such as live brine shrimp. Most Baby whales will also eat frozen brine shrimp. Click here for more about live Black Worms. Click here for more about Feeding Fish.

Compatibility
We recommend you keep one Baby Whale or several but not a few. If you keep 2, 3, or 4 Baby Whales together in the same aquarium, the strongest one will often make the others miserable. In a group with 6 or more the stronger Baby Whales become less aggressive.

You need to watch your Baby Whales carefully each day to be sure the strongest one isn't making the weaker ones miserable. Good tank mates for Baby Whales are Elephant Noses, African Black Knife Fish, and Synodontis Catfish. Baby whales are also kept in aquariums with Clown Loaches, Gouramis, and Angels. Click here to read more about several other groups of compatible fish.

Size and Life Span
These Baby Whales will grow slowly to be 8" long and can live for 6 to 10 years or sometimes even longer.