Blue catfish, Ictalurus furcatus
- Thread starter Chicxulub
- Start date
Cute lil guy. I am just jealous that you have owned this species and I haven't lol.
He was an awesome fish. His personality was completely un-catfish like, he acted more like the LMB that was in there with him. He never sat on the bottom, he always swam, normally mid level, he fed from the surface and would beg for food. Except for my goliath, this is my favorite fish of all time. And its a very close second! It was hard to catch his colors on camera well. He was very shiny and iridescent. He was a very attractive fish! I'd love to have another someday.
He was an awesome fish. His personality was completely un-catfish like, he acted more like the LMB that was in there with him. He never sat on the bottom, he always swam, normally mid level, he fed from the surface and would beg for food. Except for my goliath, this is my favorite fish of all time. And its a very close second! It was hard to catch his colors on camera well. He was very shiny and iridescent. He was a very attractive fish! I'd love to have another someday.
There's a place in North Carolina I use to go fishing and we would catch these guys all day long at around 8". We used minnows weighted to the bottom of the river. It was very close to a boat landing. It was awesome to catch them during the day. lol, wish I could get back there and get some now!!!
I got mine from an old codger who runs a fish farm that was all about helping me out since I'm military and like fish lol. I will probably be able to get another come April-March timeframe
Not casting doubt but to ensure the ID:
From http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/species.php?species_id=261 : Only confused with adult channel cats. The channel cat averages 27-30 anal fin rays while the blue has 33-35. Even easier, the anal fin of the blue is straight along the lower margin while the channel cat's is distinctly rounded.
From http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/species.php?species_id=261 : Only confused with adult channel cats. The channel cat averages 27-30 anal fin rays while the blue has 33-35. Even easier, the anal fin of the blue is straight along the lower margin while the channel cat's is distinctly rounded.
Oh fair enough TBTB! He was definitely a furcatus. For comparison's sake, that's a pic of one of the channel cats that he lived with. Very different shape to their heads and anal fins. The barbels were severely reduced in the blue cats as well. The behavior was strikingly different between the two as well, the channel cats stayed on the bottom and would pile up under driftwood and only came out at night, but the blue cats would be out actively swimming all day and night and didn't seem to be afraid of anything. They acted kind of like ID sharks. I've had two different ones and they were great fish!
I really need to own one lol. I wish I could visit NC this summer and fish in my baby blue cat spot lol.
I have a Blue cat ive had since 6'' long, he is now about 14". Very active, extremely tame! He eats out of my hand and is a peaceful beauty!
Got pics? These are almost non-existent in the hobby. I'd love to see yours!
Here's another picture of one of my two old blue cats:
