How big does the walking catfish get ?

[jjohnwm]

I hardly think that live fish at a food market are attempting to match their environment...more likely they are washed out completely due to extreme stress. I suspect that Clarias are popular in these settings not because they are so exceptionally tasty, but rather because they are tough as nails and cling to life far longer than most other types of fish would.

Refrigeration works well to keep meat fresh and palatable for extended periods...but not as well as storing the meat "on the hoof", so to speak, i.e. still in the living animal.

 

[MultipleTankSyndrome]

True.

 

[CrazyPhishMan]

* sorry to jump in here but I'm wondering if these are legal to obtain here in the states? always been something i wanted to keep but have never seen one for sale. I even remember seeing channa in stores so i don't believe i missed them

 

[wednesday13]

* sorry to jump in here but I'm wondering if these are legal to obtain here in the states? always been something i wanted to keep but have never seen one for sale. I even remember seeing channa in stores so i don't believe i missed them

Nope ??… were available yrs ago.. most states classify them as invasive now. Not positive if federally banned or just basically banned by every state.

 

[CrazyPhishMan]

Nope ??… were available yrs ago.. most states classify them as invasive now. Not positive if federally banned or just basically banned by every state.

I looked it up, looks to be federal

 

[jjohnwm]

I recall when 2-inch albino Clarias were a mainstay in every aquarium shop up here in Canada; not saying that's a good thing considering their growth rate, size and aggressiveness, but that's the way it was. And I also recall reading magazine horror stories about the situation in Florida as escaped and/or introduced C.batrachus colonized the state. They were relentless (the media, that is...) in their portrayal of the havoc Clarias were wreaking in the south; how they were impossible to control, as poisoning a pond would kill all the natives but the Clarias would just traipse merrily overland to the next one; how much of a threat they posed to native wildlife...and dogs and cats!...if "cornered" while on land. They were monsters! The end was near!

Now, several decades later, I know they are still around in Florida, but you don't hear that much about them anymore. It certainly isn't because media coverage has grown more mature in its approach over the years...nowadays everything is the end of the world. I guess the dreaded Walking Cats have been replaced with newer, trendier, flashier terrors?

How's the Clarias situation in Florida? Anyone afraid to let their dogs out at night, or take their kids for a walk?

 

[MultipleTankSyndrome]

I like to look on the bright side. At least it's walking catfish that are invasive instead of sharptooth catfish!

 

[Fishman Dave]

Similar story here in the uk and they are not “in the wild” here yet(although if this global warming carries on they may be!). Used to be able to pick them up anywhere for £3 a time but now practically nowhere sells them and when they do it’s usually a 9-12” one for £40 - £60, No thanks - I was set up with some shops to take any that were bought in error and tried to be returned once they had eaten all the neons and platties!

 

[jjohnwm]

I have a semi-local shop that I visit perhaps a few times yearly; the last time I went in I literally bumped into a fellow as he left, and he had a nice 6-inch albino Clarias that he had just purchased for $5! To put that into perspective, it's about what I would expect to pay for one or two Zebra Danios; I would have been all over that deal if I had beat him there.

The shop owner just wanted it gone; it had been brought in by another customer and left there when the shop was being watched by a younger employee. The boss told me it has happened a couple times in the past few years; I told him to call me the next time and I will do the 80km one-way drive immediately. Fingers crossed!

In case it wasn't obvious...I really enjoyed my old Clarias duo and would love to get another one. My oldest granddaughter, years ago in Ontario when I first had them, named them Clarence 1 and Clarence 2...because she couldn't pronounce Clarias at that age. I happen to have two more granddaughters now, at roughly the same age she was back then...so I need another Clarence!