Japanese Walking Catfish

[PACUMAN]

Hi, its been a while since i have been on here but have been a member for a while.. 8 years ago I bought what i was told was a pink spotted catfish From RMS in ohio it was about the size of my thumb.

Now it is 13 inches long and have been told by lots of people its Japanese walking catfish, which I have come to find out are illegal in my state and most of the USA.

2 Questions,
A. how does a store sell something that its not and especially an illegal species?
B. do I risk any real penalties if I dont get rid of it?

Thanks!

Its a great conversation piece but would hate to get fines and jail time..

 

[pwmin]

A. some don't know, some don't care and some do it deliberately. They are very common to see around...I've seen them at one time or another in most LFS. Those are federally restricted, like snakeheads and asian arowanas, so it's every state (assuming you're talking about a Clarias sp., which actually aren't found in Japan that I know of, but rather Indonesia and surrounding countries)
B. YES and now that you've mentioned it, you're more at risk of getting caught. Most people have no idea they're illegal to have.

 

[Wiggles92]

Hi, its been a while since i have been on here but have been a member for a while.. 8 years ago I bought what i was told was a pink spotted catfish From RMS in ohio it was about the size of my thumb.

Now it is 13 inches long and have been told by lots of people its Japanese walking catfish, which I have come to find out are illegal in my state and most of the USA.

2 Questions,
A. how does a store sell something that its not and especially an illegal species?
B. do I risk any real penalties if I dont get rid of it?

Thanks!

Its a great conversation piece but would hate to get fines and jail time..

Pictures will definitely help us ID the fish.

If it is a walking catfish, you might have bought it prior to the ban on keeping these fishes, so it may have been legal when you got it but is not legal now.

See if you can get a zoo or public aquarium to take it. If that's not possible, then you're best bet is to euthanize it yourself or get it euthanized. You're pretty much screwed for keeping it since you've openly admitted to having it now, so you'll have to do one of the previously mentioned things.

 

[roadboy240sx]

OP if your not comfortable keepint see if a zoo or something is interested. if not keep it. you will not get in trouble. there is no point at all in killing it. you inviting the dnr into your home anytime soon? really i wouldnt worry about it.

 

[Wiggles92]

OP if your not comfortable keepint see if a zoo or something is interested. if not keep it. you will not get in trouble. there is no point at all in killing it. you inviting the dnr into your home anytime soon? really i wouldnt worry about it.

It's not like walking catfish are illegal on a federal level or anything...

Openly saying, "Hey, I have a walking catfish," screws you when it comes to not having to worry about getting caught since anyone, including the various government people who do check this forum from time to time, can now find out that you have it. If you had just asked if walking catfish were illegal to have, then you would have been fine and no one would really suspect that you had one. The point is that the cats out of the bag, so you really can't say that you were kidding or anything now.

I suggested before about giving it to a zoo or public aquarium, but I didn't really give you any leads. I'd say email the Toledo Zoo to see if they can take it; they already have one on display, so they should be able to take it. Also, another option is to see if a university will take it; they sometimes have live fish collections and may have the permits needed to legally to keep it alive.

You're better off trying to get rid of it in order to hopefully avoid any penalties and explain to whatever place gets it that you didn't know that it was illegal when you got it, and you want to stay out of trouble while sparing its life.

 

[FLESHY]

Clariidae I am assuming? Since we have no scientific names or pictures...awesome fish...depending on when my boss gets back I might be able to talk to him about keeping it. I run a live fish collection on a university and we have been talking about getting one, but would need to get a permit.

 

[pwmin]

It's not like walking catfish are illegal on a federal level or anything...

exactly. Not sure where some people are getting that they're legal in some states. They fall under the same rules as snakeheads.

 

[krichardson]

exactly. Not sure where some people are getting that they're legal in some states. They fall under the same rules as snakeheads.

I don't mean to quibble over words here but if they are illegal in all states as the snakehead is then doesn't that come under federal law?

 

[pwmin]

I don't mean to quibble over words here but if they are illegal in all states as the snakehead is then doesn't that come under federal law?

Yeah, they're federally restricted.

 

[benzjamin13]

Walking Catfish are federally banned as well. Any illegal suggestions are not tolerated by MFK. Best thing to do is see if a zoo or aquarium are willing to take it in, if not...by law, you must put it down.

End of Story.