Monster Catfish!

[ZOO YORK 207]

you are a walking encyclopedia continue

[necrocanis]

Thanks I am typing up some stuff on my laptop and when I am home from work I will post them up! I am trying to put the species that most people will buy first then get into more exotic ones that people hardly hear of. I might end up rounding it off with some smaller species eventually!

[necrocanis]

Boredom!!! Nah, I have been studying animals since I was a little kid. It is not a profession just yet. I am in the Air Force for now, but I am studying for a degree in freshwater biology. I have stacks of books on different animals at home. I probably have about 30-40 books on nothing but catfish. Plus everytime I see a post about a new catfish I will spend hours researching it and learning everything that I can about it! I don't just study what aqaurists know, I go to fishing sites, anatomy sites, ect. I am very interested in fish anatomy, and can probably name every bone in a fish' skull. I know there are members on here that are probably more knowledgable than I am so I invite them to add or correct anything that I write about. I don't give a set size for adult fish because it is really more a range of sizes as in most animals. You never know you might get a dwarf rtc and it will only grow 2ft in it's entire lifespan. You prepare for the largest possible, but you never really can know just how big your fish will get. This of course is with larger fish, but in smaller fish you can pretty much say that said guppy will only get a max of 3 inches, and you'd be amazed to ever see one reach 4 inches. Think of that in terms of feet for large catfish. Ugh, you guys got me rambling again. LOL, I can't wait to do some more profiles. It helps me to learn more! Let's all become experts together so that we can learn from each other!

[amazonfishman]

This is pangasius gigas I believe and is the world record freshwater fish ever caught 644lbs and was caught last summer I believe in June. I tried to pm it but couldn't find the attach button let me know when you've got the pic and ill delete the post or the mods will hopefully ~Trent

[necrocanis]

I will be doing the gigas in the near future! I have this photo already. I am waiting a little bit on it, because it is not readily availible to anyone outside of Asia. That is the current catfish world record, but not exactly sure that is the overall freshwater fish. I think there was still a debate on that. Thanks

[necrocanis]

Goonch
Bargarius yarelli
family Sisoridae

Adult length-4-5ft.
Adult weight-45-75lbs.
Size sold in stores-not often seen in stores, but generally 4-8 inches.

This the giant devil catfish or goonch is not often seen in the hobby. when it is seen it is often snatch up quickly for it's unique exotic appearance. In my personal opinion it looks like a dragon. As if at any minute a flame will burst from it's mouth. This fish is a monster if there ever was one. If I knew this fish inhabited the waters where I swim I probably would not go swimming. This catfish has large fearsome teeth, and knows how to use them. A very intelligent predator, it is best kept by itself as other tank mates will be bitten, killed, or eaten. Even fish larger than itself will find the aggression of this fish too much to handle. Good luck in finding a fish larger than it though. It is massive, and thus would require a massive tank. The footprint for this beauty is min. 4ft. x 10ft. And min pond size 8ft dia. The tank would also need to be a dedicated tank, as mentioned before it is much too aggressive to keep with other fish. If you have the time, space and money to put into this fish I don't think you can go wrong. Water temps best at 64-74f. Good luck with hand feeding this monster!

[necrocanis]

Anyone that has kept B. yarelli feel free to add. I don't know much about it and just posted what I could find, but i thought it was important to post about it because of the number of members getting them lately!


If anyone has any questions, comments, concerns, or suggestions they would like to share with me feel free to email me at necrocanis@yahoo.com, or just pm me. Thanks.

[hydrocynus7]

What about Pylodictus olivaricus ? The Flathead Catfish. I hope that I spelled it right . That Latin name is off the top of my head , I hope I spelled it right ! I hooked one last year fishing for Smallmouth Bass on the Tennessee River that looked like you could put a basketball in its mouth!!!!!!

[necrocanis]

I will do the flathead eventually, but wish to do profiles on fish that are more common in our hobby first! Thanks for the interest I'll put it on the list for the future. Look out for the channel catfish very soon!

[Redtail_Watcher]

Two of the largest of all the cat fish is the Wells from Europe over 500pds to 726pds 13'quarter ft to 16'6 ft long!!! and the the mekong catfish the record of 10 feet long! at 660pds