bullhead ID ?
- Thread starter Gill Blue
- Start date
not my fish, tank. these are auction fish as unidentified bullhead.
good try rays, but if he was reasonably sure of it, wouldn't he have posted it? I know I'm much more likely to buy something when I know what it is than if I don't. I don't see the point of asking someone who basically has said he doesn't know the answer, what the answer is.
I do see what could be a tan stripe at the tail of one that could make it black, but I'm also seeing white whiskers on another, that is supposed to be an identifier on the yellows.
in my research to ID them I came across this http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?14959-Bullhead-Catfish-An-Article stating that blacks, which I thought were the smallest bullheads, are the largest...
I'd love a bullhead or two but it's only a 240. I don't want to end up with a 20 inch fish, and a lot of my fish get to the top end of their sizes.
so since I don't need 6, and I don't know what they are, and I have conflicting size information...
less bidding, more research.
good try rays, but if he was reasonably sure of it, wouldn't he have posted it? I know I'm much more likely to buy something when I know what it is than if I don't. I don't see the point of asking someone who basically has said he doesn't know the answer, what the answer is.
I do see what could be a tan stripe at the tail of one that could make it black, but I'm also seeing white whiskers on another, that is supposed to be an identifier on the yellows.
in my research to ID them I came across this http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?14959-Bullhead-Catfish-An-Article stating that blacks, which I thought were the smallest bullheads, are the largest...
I'd love a bullhead or two but it's only a 240. I don't want to end up with a 20 inch fish, and a lot of my fish get to the top end of their sizes.
so since I don't need 6, and I don't know what they are, and I have conflicting size information...
less bidding, more research.
Black Bullhead is not smallest species of Bullhead family but they get larger. Brown Bullheads get even larger than Black Bullheads. I don't think a 20" black bullhead existed, they just gain some girth not length. Even 20" brown bullheads are rare. So a 240 should be able to house one or three bullheads assuming they grow to 15" which is average size for aquarium bullheads.
We've caught 18 inchers before... just to inform... that was the only bullhead i've seen that big, and i don't exactly remember the species either.
it was most likely a brown bullhead which are known to reach 20-24". However the bullhead in general tend get smaller in capitivity.
thanks for the info. but I'm looking at things I shouldn't be at this stage. too much new tank (which I haven't even received yet) excitement. I really need to wait on a bullhead until after my sunny purchases (which I haven't even made yet) have had a year to grow out.
thanks for the info. but I'm looking at things I shouldn't be at this stage. too much new tank (which I haven't even received yet) excitement. I really need to wait on a bullhead until after my sunny purchases (which I haven't even made yet) have had a year to grow out.
There's still nothing wrong with learning how to ID since it will help you in the future.
The bottom fish in the back is almost certainly a brown bullhead. The anal fin is extremely long, almost akin to a yellow (who has a longer anal fin and more fin rays than either the black or the brown), and appears to have too many fin rays to be a black, but it has black barbels rather than white, and mottled coloring all the way up into it's fins. So it's pretty much guaranteed to be a brown rather than yellow. There appears to be no white border at the base of the caudal fin, like a black would have. I can at least pretty confidently say this is NOT a black bullhead.
The one next to it appears to have white-ish, barbels, but the anal fin appears far too short to be a yellow, and a bit too long for a black, though I couldn't see nearly enough to count more than a few fin rays on this one, and also has mottled coloring, and appears to have no white border at the base of the caudal fin, so I'd also venture to say it's likely a brown also, with a slim possibility of being a black.
The fish at the top is far too blurry to make a guess at.
Here are a few pics of my black bullhead I took a long while ago to help someone else, that point out some characteristics, most of which are not present on the above pics. It's usually easier to look at an actual fish of a certain species and make comparisons, rather than an illustration, plain description. And it's generally best not to rely on google images or something since there are a lot of mislabeled or misidentified fish.
Slight tail indentation, not as commonly seen on yellows, but found on blacks and browns. Yellows generally have a straight to outward curved tail.
Wide white-ish band at the base of the caudal fin. A good indicator of a BLACK bullhead. Some people mistakenly look at the outer edge of the tail for a white band, but the portion indicated in the above pic is where you should be looking.
Black barbels that are only white-ish at the base. Both black and browns can have this characteristics, but yellows have white barbels along the whole length.
Fairly short anal fin, with 19 rays, most likely indicating a black bullhead, and eliminating the yellow bulllhed. Blacks generally have between 17-21.
Yellow bullheads will have between 25-28 rays, making their anal fin significantly longer than the black, and usually a fair bit longer than the brown.
Brown bullheads can have 19-24, but generally fall between 21-23.
Color is never a good indicator of species, except for the completely white barbels of the yellow (and even with the presence of this ONE feature, you should still look at all features together since some individual fish, or populations of fish are oddballs). Both browns and blacks can have very yellow bodies, and yellows may have black or brown bodies, though the mottled or speckled patches are much more likely on a brown bullhead than on a black, and not likely on a yellow. A black bullhead that is stressed and a bit faded may appear to have a bit of mottling, but it looks different (usually more blotchy and irregular), and once you've compared a few browns and blacks it's pretty easy to see what I mean.
Brown bullheads may lack a mottled pattern altogether though, so the LACK of mottling doesn't indicate a black bullhead.
Of course, the easiest thing to look at FIRST is where the fish was caught (if you know or can find out), and determining which species are found in that area. You then have to compare only the attributes of the species found in that area (if there's only one species listed your job is likely done).
I think that's likely a picture quality and lighting issue. They're probably light-ish grey or brown in person, darkening as you get toward the tips, but not completely white. Look at the tips, they don't appear white.
Those fish are stressed due to no cover or substrate, and trying to blend in with their light/clear surroundings, so they're probably very faded out. In a more comfortable tank with darker surroundings the skin will probably darken significantly, including his barbels.