Channel

[necrocanis]

Are the albinos that are for sale at stores, wild caught or captive bred?

Is it possible to find a albino catfish in the US at a local lake? i know that they are much easier to spot and get hunted down but do they occur pretty often in the wild?

Albino channels are sometimes released into the wild just like albino trout. Fisheries will do this to give fishermen some excitement. They don't release albinos until larger than a certain size to reduce the risk of predation. Albinos are rare in the wild because they are easily spotted by predators, and generally are not as healthy as non-albinos. Some albino catfish are not really albinos at all they are just white, I think it's known as melanism or xanthic coloration. Sometimes they can be solid black, that is a form of melanism. Hope this helps. Oh, and there is that chance if you have a hatchery that produces albinos.