Can Southern Bullhead catfish adapt to Northern winters?

[Barrbar]

I wanted to know if Bullhead catfish such as the Spotted, Snail or the Southern mottled/ marbled Brown Bullhead would survive northern winters. Assuming i have an in ground pond of the proper depth would any or all of these species survive a winter in an iced over pond? In the past I've been told fish like the Copper Nose Bluegill have a northern limit and they wouldn't survive an ice over here in New York. But since these are Bullheads i thought maybe they're a little tougher.

 

[tlindsey]

divemaster99

 

[MN_Rebel]

Spotted, snail and flat bullheads definitely will not survive the northern winters. Not sure about the Florida brown bullheads, but Florida LMB, Coppernose bluegills and redear sunfish have been tried in northern regions and they all died from cold stress and cold lethality, so there's a good chance that Florida brown bullheads didn't have a cold tolerance.

 

[Barrbar]

Out of the cats i listed I'm pretty sure I've only seen the Florida brown bullheads.
Is this a Florida morph brown bullhead mislabeled as A.serracanthus?

All the online stores list their location as places with warmer winters than mine (two in Florida and one in Arizona) so i thought an attempt with the mottled Florida brown would be the same as taking a normal Brown bullhead from Arizona or Florida and trying to over winter it here.
"If i buy any fish during this year i'll keep them inside to fatten them up over the winter."

I guess the question i should ask is. Will normal browns from Arizona or Florida survive a winter outdoors here?

 

[MN_Rebel]

Probably, but I would bet that Florida browns won't survive a northern winter. They are completely different from the northern brown bullheads and Florida brown bullheads are subspecies of brown brown. That said you can find few marbled individuals of northern browns, yellows and blacks in northern regions if you know how to find them.

 

[Barrbar]

Probably, but I would bet that Florida browns won't survive a northern winter. They are completely different from the northern brown bullheads and Florida brown bullheads are subspecies of brown brown. That said you can find few marbled individuals of northern browns, yellows and blacks in northern regions if you know how to find them.

Thank you for your reply MN_Rebel. "if you know how to find them" I think my best option will be to pay the kids here to sell me their "garbage fish" next summer.

 

[divemaster99]

I wanted to know if Bullhead catfish such as the Spotted, Snail or the Southern mottled/ marbled Brown Bullhead would survive northern winters. Assuming i have an in ground pond of the proper depth would any or all of these species survive a winter in an iced over pond? In the past I've been told fish like the Copper Nose Bluegill have a northern limit and they wouldn't survive an ice over here in New York. But since these are Bullheads i thought maybe they're a little tougher.

They may, your best bet, however, would be to very slowly get them used to local temperatures by keeping them inside for their first winter. Assuming you let your house get 64-68° in the winter like I do. That'll get them used to cooler water than they're used to and then the next year they may tolerate a winter outdoors. But they are a southern subspecies so there's a good chance they may not survive either way. I'd say you've got about a 50/50 shot at it.

 

[MN_Rebel]

They may, your best bet, however, would be to very slowly get them used to local temperatures by keeping them inside for their first winter. Assuming you let your house get 64-68° in the winter like I do. That'll get them used to cooler water than they're used to and then the next year they may tolerate a winter outdoors. But they are a southern subspecies so there's a good chance they may not survive either way. I'd say you've got about a 50/50 shot at it.

They did some studies on southern subspecies and their cold tolerance. They didn't survived the cold winters. That's why Florida bass, coppernose bluegill and redear sunfish are never imported to up northern regions.

 

[divemaster99]

They did some studies on southern subspecies and their cold tolerance. They didn't survived the cold winters. That's why Florida bass, coppernose bluegill and redear sunfish are never imported to up northern regions.

Good to know. Guess no coppernose Bulls for the pond I plan on putting in soon. Although I have seen some pretty big 'gills and pumpkinseeds up in Erie so maybe I'll have to get them from there .