Amazing Find!

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S

Stab

Gambusia
MFK Member
Apr 29, 2005
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This evening I walked into this LFS in a remote part of town and walked out with 2 4" Heteropneustes Fossilis for $15+ tax. I am absolutely beyond myself with joy. In all of my years of fish keeping this was the first tiem EVAR that I saw these guys live and not in the book or something. I also have this affection for anything even remotely related to clarias sp., and as far as I understand these are very close. Running to feed the new ones now, pics will be up in couple of days

:headbang2
 
Nice find! I've seen only 2 for sale with a 10 year gap in between sales.
 
I dont mean to be asking for trouble and have feds knocking on my door but are they even legal to be brought into US? Based on the little research I did yesterday, they are practically the same as walking catfsih (able to leav out of water for ours and "walk" on land). Plus, their sting can be FATAL TO HUMANS :headbang2 I just wonder why if infact legal they are not imported more often, after all this species is very hardy, breeds commercially, doesn't get dispropotionately huge, and displays some interesting behavior (plus its freaking POISONOUS! :naughty: )

Pics will be up soon
 
Stab;669554; said:
One more thing... Why are they called "fossilis"?
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Their scientific name is Heteropneustes Fossilis. I wouldn't say they have a fatal sting, just enough to put you through some major pain for the next week. And I don't think they are as durable as the Clarias sp.
 
The are considerably more common in Europe, yet in the U.S., I, like Ben, have only seen them in stock in relatively few instances---maybe four of five times in my area, and have heard of them being offered on a somewhat regular basis in the midwest. The actual word fossilis means "unearthed" in Latin, which could refer to the sp's relatively primative anatomy, or perhaps some behavioral trait which I've yet to observe.
 
COL;670020; said:
The are considerably more common in Europe, yet in the U.S., I, like Ben, have only seen them in stock in relatively few instances---maybe four of five times in my area, and have heard of them being offered on a somewhat regular basis in the midwest. The actual word fossilis means "unearthed" in Latin, which could refer to the sp's relatively primative anatomy, or perhaps some behavioral trait which I've yet to observe.
Click to expand...

Even so, I think i've only seen one for sale before and that was years ago.
 
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