Taxonomy & naming
Described by Gerald Allen and Mark Feinberg in 1998. The type locality is Running River, Burdekin River system, northern Queensland, about 19 deg 07 min S, 145 deg 50 min E, Australia. It is a valid species in the Catalog of Fishes. The epithet is Latin: mollis (soft) + spiculum (spine).
Morphology
Neosilurus are eel-tailed catfishes: a long body with a tapering tail that merges the dorsal, caudal and anal fins, four pairs of barbels and a spined pectoral and dorsal fin. FishBase gives a maximum of 17.5 in SL for this species.
Habitat
FishBase lists the Burdekin River system of northeastern Queensland, Australia, and classes it as a freshwater demersal fish. The range is small.
Feeding
A bottom-feeding omnivore-carnivore of insects, crustaceans and small fish, by genus default; no species-specific diet study is known to the atlas.
Mating
Mating behaviour is not documented for Neosilurus mollespiculum in the sources available to the atlas. Sexes cannot be separated reliably from the information available.
Breeding
No aquarium breeding record is known to the atlas.
In the aquarium
Plotosid catfish carry venomous fin spines, so net with care and wear gloves for handling. At up to 17.5 in SL it needs a large tank with hiding places and sinking foods. Despite the soft spine, still handle with care. It will eat small tankmates.
Conservation
The IUCN Red List lists Neosilurus mollespiculum as Vulnerable, meaning it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild; FishBase gives no assessment year. Its known range is limited to the Burdekin system. Wild-caught fish are the usual source in trade.