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The Brownbanded Bamboo Shark is known as one of the Cat Sharks because the barbels at the mouth look like cat whiskers. It is also referred to as the Black Banded Bamboo Shark, and has a cream-colored body with broad dark brown or black stripes. There may be large, muted brown spots between the stripes.

The Brownbanded Bamboo Shark is a bottom dwelling shark that is common in the home aquarium. It will eat any crustacean in the aquarium. It stays relatively small, but requires at least a 180 gallon or larger aquarium as an adult. It requires sand as the substrate as the abdomen is easily scratched by a coarser substrate, which may lead to an infection. It should never be exposed to copper-based medications.

Feeding may be difficult in the beginning. The best way to begin feeding is by offering small pieces of cleaned squid or freshwater ghost shrimp.