Taxonomy & naming
Anadoras regani was described by the Austrian ichthyologist Franz Steindachner in 1908. It belongs to the family Doradidae, the thorny or talking catfishes, a large South American family that has been repeatedly reshuffled at the genus level as revisions split and redefined older, broader genera; species now placed in Anadoras and related doradid genera have at times been shuffled among older combinations in the historical literature, as is common across Doradidae. The Catalog of Fishes (Eschmeyer, California Academy of Sciences) is the current authority for the valid name and combination.
The genus name Anadoras follows the doradid naming convention built on the older genus name Doras, itself an old term applied to these thorny catfishes; regani honours a person, following the common practice of dedicating a species epithet to a colleague or collector — as is typical for early-20th-century South American ichthyology, the exact dedication is not confirmed from the sources consulted here. Data on this species is genuinely sparse: it has no dedicated entry on FishBase, Seriously Fish or Planet Catfish, and the IUCN Red List has not evaluated it, which is common for narrow-range, single-river South American doradids that see little scientific or hobby attention.
Morphology
As a doradid, Anadoras regani should show the family's hallmark armour: rows of bony, keeled scutes running along the flanks in place of ordinary scales, giving the body a plated, thorny-edged profile rather than a smooth or naked one. Doradids typically carry three pairs of barbels around the mouth and a stout head, and most bear stiff, serrated dorsal and pectoral spines that lock erect when the fish is threatened or handled.
Exact adult size for Anadoras regani is not confirmed in the sources consulted here (FishBase inaccessible, no Seriously Fish or isolated Planet Catfish entry) — do not assume this is a small fish. Doradidae spans a very wide size range, from a few centimetres to well over 19.5 in in some genera, so the size trap applies: without a confirmed figure, plan for a larger adult rather than guessing small, and revise the expected footprint if better data becomes available. Like other doradids it lacks true scales, which matters for medication dosing (see "In the aquarium").
Habitat
Doradidae is a South American family found across the Amazon and Orinoco basins and associated river systems, and Anadoras regani is understood to come from a South American river drainage consistent with this pattern, though a precise, sourced locality is not confirmed here. Species-level habitat detail — substrate, flow, water chemistry at the type locality — is not available from the sources consulted.
In general, Amazonian and Orinocan doradids inhabit river channels, floodplain habitats and associated backwaters, often near cover such as submerged wood, leaf litter or root tangles, and many forage along the bottom. Without confirmed data for this species specifically, keepers should treat any water-chemistry recommendation as a general South American river guideline rather than a species-specific one.
Feeding
Doradid catfishes are typically nocturnal benthic omnivores, foraging over the riverbed after dark for aquatic invertebrates, detritus and other small food items; larger species will also take small fish opportunistically. This general pattern is the best available guide for Anadoras regani in the absence of a species-specific account.
In the aquarium, a doradid of this kind can be expected to accept sinking pellets, frozen foods and other prepared foods once settled, offered after lights-out so a shy, nocturnal fish is not out-competed by more active tankmates. No feeding data specific to Anadoras regani was found in the sources consulted.
Mating
No species-specific account of courtship or spawning behaviour for Anadoras regani was found in the sources consulted (FishBase inaccessible, no dedicated Seriously Fish or Planet Catfish entry). Breeding biology within Doradidae is diverse and not uniform across the family, so it would be inaccurate to assume a particular mode — such as open-water egg-scattering, bubble-nesting or internal fertilisation — without confirmation for this genus.
Breeding
There is no confirmed record of Anadoras regani being bred in the aquarium, and no description of its reproductive biology was found in the sources consulted. Many South American doradids, especially narrow-range or little-studied species like this one, are essentially unknown quantities in captivity — they are neither commercially farmed nor documented as home-bred. Prospective keepers should treat captive breeding of this species as unestablished rather than assume any particular spawning strategy.
In the aquarium
Because a confirmed adult size is not available, err on the side of a larger, more spacious setup rather than assuming this is a small, easy-to-house catfish — the size trap is the most common mistake with under-documented doradids. As a plated, scaleless catfish it should be treated as medication-sensitive: dose copper-based and other treatments conservatively. Doradids typically carry stiff, serrated, locking pectoral and dorsal spines that catch in aquarium nets and can jab the handler, so this species is best moved in a cup or container rather than netted.
Expect a nocturnal, bottom-oriented fish that appreciates cover such as driftwood, root tangles or dense planting to retreat into during the day, becoming active after dark. Given how little is documented about this species, it is realistically an option only for specialist keepers prepared to work from general doradid husbandry rather than a proven, species-specific care sheet.
Conservation
Anadoras regani has not been evaluated by the IUCN Red List, so its conservation status is Not Evaluated (NE) rather than confirmed Least Concern, threatened, or otherwise. This is common for narrow-range, single-river-system South American doradids that receive little scientific survey effort or commercial attention.
Without a completed assessment or population data, no specific threats or trends can be stated for this species. As with many under-documented doradids, general pressures on South American freshwater systems — habitat alteration, deforestation, damming and water-quality decline — are the plausible long-term concerns, but none of these are confirmed as acting on this species specifically in the sources consulted.