Perhaps the best book on catfish of the family Loricarridae. Keep in mind this is the first of three books, with this book containing information on the sub-families Hypoptopomatinae & Loricariinae. With 942 pages, over 900 photos & information on catfish in reguards to research, morphological characteristics, hearing, habitats, nutrition, maintenance, disease, breeding & various family coverage, the Baensch Catfish Atlas Volume I is a must have for any South American catfish enthusiast. Some of the most familiar species are covered in this volume such as Royal Farlowellas (Sturisoma sp.), Otocinculus & Whiptail Catfish (Hemiloricaria sp. & Rineloricaria sp.) as well as species I had never seen or heard of prior to reading this book like Acestridium sp. & Epactionotus aky.

Perhaps one of the most interesting attributes I learned about catfish is their ability to hear. This ability is best used by the genus Otocinculus. What remains unknown is if this feature is used so species can communicate & in what fashion. Is it the ability to tell if predators are near or is it perhaps used for spawning? This is a very interesting feature that is worth more investigating.

Another feature I like in this book is the habitat section. This allows the aquarist to perhaps setup a biotope of fish that come from the same river. Habitats covered in this book include the Rio Negro, the Rio Tefe, the Rio Xingu among others. Within each part of each river covered, a detailed look at what fish species were collected is given along with water parameters. This should help aquarists recreate these types of environments in the home aquarium. By duplicating these environments, the end result will be healthier catfish that should lead to more spawning & there by resulting in less wild fish being imported & reducing wild populations.