Goonch Catfish (Bagarius) ID and Care Guide 1.01

[Caveden]

Hello,

i bought a Bagarius labeled as "Bagarius bagarius" with a maximum size of 25cm.

The fish should be a Bagarius sp. Indochina if im right. (he is 20cm right now)
i have a few questions about it:
-how big do they get? (i assume 1,5m)
-how fast do they grow?
-what is the water temperature in the natural habitat? (im at 24°C)


i also have some general questions:
-why are bagarius Indochina and yarelli both classified as bagarius Lica now? as they are quite different
-is there somewhere a photo of a big indochina around max size?
-how different are the growth rates between indochina and yarelli?

i hope someone can answer the questions
Thanks in advance

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In captivity I would say around 3-4 feet in length if kept in good conditions, although many reach only 24-30”.
If you want to see large Indochina, check out ohiofishrescue, they have a 3ft one.
I would say yarelli grow larger and faster compared to Indochina, although yarelli and Indochina are classified under one category of b.lica now

 

[Fishman Dave]

As I look at the photo, that’s a fish I think I would label as bagarius bagarius in the old naming, not indochina. Nice upturned “wings” and round eyes.Much prefer the old naming as it all made sense but I’m old school. Now we have lumped fish with different patterns and colouration as well as different shaped eyes together as one fish.

 

[Combine]

im also a fan of the old naming as it got quite confusing with the new nameing.

i added 2 more photos of the head, you still consider the eyes as round?


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[Fishman Dave]

No, would agree with the better closeup the eyes are oval.

 

[fishguy123$1]

Please help me ID my golden goonch. Last pic is a distorted angle through the acrylic corner but I tried to get a top view. 1. Is this yarelli (grows to 6ft)? Or rutilus (grows to 4ft)? 2. Is this considered albino or “golden”? Are they the same thing for goonch? 3. Is there a difference in the value/rarity of golden yarelli vs. rutilus, albino vs. golden, etc? Either way it’s an awesome fish and I’m honored to have it.

 

[Caveden]

1) yes it’s B. Yarelli. If you had gotten yourself an albino rutilus consider yourself lucky; I have never seen one before. Note they most likely won’t grow 6ft in captivity although they do have the potential.

2) albino. No such thing as “golden”.

3) albinos are much more expensive than the normal variant. As said again, no such thing as golden. If anything your “golden” means albino.

 

[Chicxulub]

1) yes it’s B. Yarelli. If you had gotten yourself an albino rutilus consider yourself lucky; I have never seen one before. Note they most likely won’t grow 6ft in captivity although they do have the potential.

2) albino. No such thing as “golden”.

3) albinos are much more expensive than the normal variant. As said again, no such thing as golden. If anything your “golden” means albino.

While I agree that this particular fish is likely an albino, 'golden' as a color morph definitely is a thing. Outside of that, I agree with all of this.

 

[koltsixx]

As Caveden said it definitely a Yarrelli and definitely Albino just like mine. Nice pick-up. Also as Caveden said there is no current record as far as I know of a xanthic Goonch. Xanthochromism is when a fish has an unusually yellow pigmentation due to a genetic condition that reduces the animals red pigmentation causing the expression of yellow to be visually dominant.

Albinism is a genetic mutation that cause the genes that affect melanin/dark pigmentation production. Because the target is so general many pigments are affected including those in the eyes which is whey albinos have their distinct red or pink eyes. With not enough pigmentation in the iris what is seen is actually the blood vessels which is why the eyes look red or pink. It's the defining characteristic that makes visually identifying albinism relatively easy. Xanthic fish like my Xanthic Synodontis Nigrita have normal colored eyes and fish like my possibly RTC/TSN hybrid which seems to have partial Leucism able to express some dark pigmentation while lightening or removing others. I unfortunately don't have a pic or video of my NIgrita as I got him before I started videoing day 1 arrivals and he's generally in a tree ornament unless eating.

 

[fishguy123$1]

Thanks for the id everyone. Do you know the optimal amount of flow (vs tank gallons) for a goonch? I’m currently using the high end of 20-40x tank turnover in gph, the range recommended by bulk reef supply (https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/cont...ter-flow-do-i-need-in-my-reef-aquarium-52-faq). So in my current 75 gal I have just over 3000gph of flow (40x tank volume) from a 1600gph and 950gph Powerhead, and 563gph from my fx6 (flow output from specifications).

 

[Fishman Dave]

Personally I would give him a good current with a cave/ rock that blocked the current he can get behind “out of the flow “ too. However, imo it’s more the oxygen content rather than just the flow.