Albino Wels not using whiskers ???

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Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Jul 29, 2011
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New England
In 20+ years, I've never seen this before - my biggest albino wels no longer uses his whiskers - He just swims with them hanging back at a 45 degree angle backwards - It is not really clear if he can still move them but I don't think he can.

Has anyone ever seen anything like this happen before? Do you think a hard bump on his nose may have damaged the "whisker controls" ? He still eats, swims, etc, normally - but it looks very strange having him swim like that.

He finds food by skimming the surface with his nose, or with his lower barbels on the bottom in the case of sinking food.
 
He does not jump - One of the whiskers is reddish at the base - it's been that way for a couple of weeks, but I did not notice if that was the time that the whiskers stopped working. But no markings ever, on the nose.

Just curious if anyone has seen this happen before with a catfish.
 
I've seen it with several cats before. I never thought it was strange, I just assumed that they were able to find the food easily without having to resort to their specialised organ to actually look for it. Pellets and fillets are awfully pungent after all.

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Since you didn't notice an injury it would be hard to say if the fish is choosing not to use them or not, but I would agree with Chicxulub. Not as much competition for food, and there is probably more light and clearer water aiding the fish in finding food in general; therefore they may not be needed.
 
What size tank is he in? Sounds like he may be crammed a bit

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He definitely is very much cramped in a 75 right now, while I move some tanks to where I want them to be. (He normally is in one of the 300's.)

It can't be lack of competition, or ease of finding food - I've never seen this happen in 20+ years. He does not move them - period - and we all know they use them for feeling where they are, etc. Cats are constantly flicking their whiskers around - that's what they are for. I guess it's just a mystery - he must have broken a nerve or something.
 
Ah, I see what you're saying. I thought you were describing laziness which I've seen. I've never seen one completely stop moving them.
 
Gotcha...i think its just the 75gal accomidations, he could use some room to stretch out those wiskers

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I suppose it could be related to the Large Pim (long-antennae catfishes) syndrome. When a catfish touches both front and back panes of glass with their maxillary barbels simultaneously, it stresses them out because it makes them feel trapped in a tight spot without escape. Instead of freaking out, like say Leiarius species do, he chooses to not move them at all which creates a false sense of security.

If this is even remotely so, it is a very smart fish and an interesting observation.
 
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