Eel-tailed catfish
Fish · Last reviewed 2026-10-23
A scaleless native catfish with an eel-like tail and four pairs of barbels, fished in the Murray-Darling's rivers and impoundments, with sharp serrated spines to handle with care.
Catching Eel-tailed catfish
Everything here on fishing for it. Each entry opens the page behind it.
- Lives in
- Fresh water
- Rules
- Set where you fish, not recorded here for the species. Who to ask
- Ground
- Where
- 1 place FishingHQ documents — strongest claim anywhere: regular local target
- How
- From the shore at 1 · From a boat at 1 — the number of places that record it that way.
The eel-tailed catfish is Australia's own freshwater catfish, and once seen it is not confused with much else. The Australian Museum describes a scaleless fish with a short first dorsal fin and a tail that runs into an eel-like point, a down-turned mouth ringed by four pairs of barbels, and a sharp, serrated spine at the base of the first dorsal fin and each pectoral fin. It is brown to olive green above, sometimes reddish or purplish, and pale below.
It lives through much of the Murray-Darling and in coastal rivers from northern Queensland to central New South Wales, and the NSW department says it is native to the Macquarie River, where Burrendong Dam now stands. There it is a main target alongside Murray cod and golden perch, a strong fighter and a good table fish, and it will chase lures meant for bigger fish. The department finds it around aquatic vegetation, tree roots and undercut banks in the river arms of the dam, feeding on yabbies, shrimp, molluscs and other aquatic animals.
The spines are the thing to know before unhooking one: hold the fish so that neither the dorsal nor the pectoral spines can reach a hand.
Where and when
Where Eel-tailed catfish is documented
Places where public sources describe this species as fished, with how it is fished and how strongly the evidence supports it. This is not a range map and it is not a recommendation — it is what has been written down about a fishery rather than a record of any individual catch, and being listed is never permission to fish.
See these by shore, boat, kayak, fly or fresh water in the species finder.
New South Wales
1 documented place
- Burrendong Dam · ReservoirRegular local target · from the shore, from a boat
What these strengths mean
- Regular local target
- Fishing sources describe this as a normal local target here, not merely as caught.
- Where and how to catch it: these places by shore, boat, kayak, fly or fresh water, with the gear linked to it.
- Trip planner: a destination, a method and a season, put together.
- Location explorer: documented places by distance from where you are.
- Browse fishing places by part of the world
The fishBack to the questions
Identification
No photograph of Eel-tailed catfish is published yet, so none is shown. A photograph is published only once the animal in it has been checked against the diagnostic features described on this page, and its rights to be used here have been checked at its source.
- Scientific name
- Tandanus tandanus
- Family
- Plotosidae
- Water
- Freshwater
- Conservation status
- Least Concern
- Regions
- Australia
- No scales; a short first dorsal fin, and a tail that runs to an eel-like point.
- A down-turned mouth surrounded by four pairs of barbels.
- A sharp, serrated spine at the base of the first dorsal fin and of each pectoral fin.
- Brown to olive green above, sometimes reddish or purplish, pale below; juveniles mottled.
Size
- Typical
- The Australian Museum says it is more commonly seen up to 45 cm
- Large
- Up to 90 cm, the Australian Museum says
Exceptional: FishBase gives a maximum of 90 cm and 6.8 kg; the Australian Museum gives up to 7 kg
Lifecycle and reproduction
Potamodromous, migrating within fresh water (FishBase). The sources read give no age at maturity; FishBase gives a maximum age of eight years.
The sources read do not describe its breeding: neither the Australian Museum page, the FishBase summary nor the NSW department's Burrendong guide gives a season, a site or an age at maturity, so none is stated here.
Feeding and senses
Yabbies, shrimp, molluscs and other aquatic animals, the NSW department says; it will also chase lures meant for larger fish.
The four pairs of barbels around the mouth are sensory, as in other catfish, though the sources read do not describe how it uses them.
Through the year
The sources read give no season for it. The department places it in the Macquarie, Cudgegong and Meroo arms of Burrendong, around aquatic vegetation, tree roots and undercut banks.
Distribution
Endemic to Australia: through much of the Murray-Darling drainage and in coastal drainages from northern Queensland to central New South Wales (Australian Museum; FishBase).
This is a biological range — where the species occurs, not a prediction that you will catch one. To browse the fishing geography FishingHQ holds, start at fishing places.
Why anglers care
One of the three main targets at Burrendong Dam in the NSW department's guide, valued as a fighter and as a table fish, and taken on bait and on lures cast for cod and golden perch.
Handling and returning
The Australian Museum notes a sharp, serrated spine at the base of the first dorsal and of each pectoral fin. Keep hands clear of all three while unhooking; the sources read give no particular grip.
Safety and rulesBack to the questions
Sources and evidence
- FishBase: a global information system on fishes — Froese, R. and D. Pauly, eds. — FishBase Consortium (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Family, maximum size, environment and distribution for Tandanus tandanus. Maximum length 90 cm, weight 6.8 kg, age 8 years.States this directlyPassage read and verified
- The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — International Union for Conservation of Nature (Conservation authority)Relied on for: The Least Concern assessment for Tandanus tandanus, assessed 13 February 2019, as FishBase reports it.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Freshwater Catfish, Tandanus tandanus — Australian Museum (Scientific institute)Relied on for: Identification — scales, fins, tail, barbels, spines and colour — size, range and common names.States this directlyPassage read and verified
- Go Freshwater Fishing — Burrendong Dam — NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, 2024 (Government fisheries body)Relied on for: Native to the Macquarie River; a main target at Burrendong; fighting and table qualities; diet; habitats in the dam's arms.States this directlyPassage read and verified
Why the 2 connections on this page are here, and the sources
Where it lives
Backed by research — 1 connection
Supported by peer-reviewed research or fisheries science. The sources are listed and can be checked.
Lowland rivers
A national museum's species page.
- Freshwater Catfish, Tandanus tandanus — Australian Museum (Scientific institute)Relied on for: The species' range in the Murray-Darling and eastern coastal drainages.States this directlyPassage read and verified
Official guidance — 1 connection
Stated by a fisheries authority, scientific institute or recognised angling body. Authoritative, but summarising rather than demonstrating.
Reservoirs
The state department's guide to the water.
- Go Freshwater Fishing — Burrendong Dam — NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, 2024 (Government fisheries body)Relied on for: Eel-tailed catfish as a main target at Burrendong and their habitats in the dam's arms.States this directlyPassage read and verified
How FishingHQ labels evidence is explained in the evidence policy.