Mekong Catfish x Redtail Catfish

[thebiggerthebetter]

Jason, where is your info coming from? The fish in the OP, just as Russ is saying, has been identified by Dr. Heok Hee Ng as mutant iridescent shark catfish, not a hybrid with anything: the OP pic is gone but it was exactly the same pic as in your OP http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=38667&hilit=orca


by Silurus » Tue May 28, 2013 5:07 pm

It's a Pangasianodon hypophthalmus with some kind of genetic defect for color. All of the chromatophores seem to be highly aggregated in parts of the body, causing some areas to be albinistic and others to be very dark.


I'm dubious the words you cite belong to Jean Francois talking about the fish in the OP. If I had to guess, I'd say someone is pulling someone else's leg.

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Cool pics, Tim. I think we need a thread with those wacky pics together in one spot, because dinosaurs like me are not on Instagram, FB, or twitter, etc. Agree with Russ' analyses.

I do however share a strong dislike towards people messing with nature like that.

 

[wednesday13]

There is no need to artificially create hybrids there. The waters in SE Asia have more exotic species than Florida waters from decades of tropical fish farming. Have you watched the River Monster series in which the guy pulled up giant Amazon fish from Mekong River. You can find more Red Tail Catfish, Arapaima and Sting Rays in Mekong than in Amazon, providing a perfect environment to hybridize.

Just how do u think the pet industry gets their fish?? I think its far better we get them from an aquaculture farm producing them for food then every one being hand plucked from the wild. Brazil/ south america leads the way in aquaculture. Asia is close behind i agree but they both do it for food production. Im all for fish farming as a sustainable resource. America could replace depleted natives with more fish farming, were way behind. Has nothing to do with the "tropical fish industry"...we simply get their runts/color morphs/ and by products they cant eat because they learned they can make extra money on what would be lost profits in fish that dont produce large meat yields. Hybrids are created/expiremented with for larger meat yields for human consumption not the pet industry. There would be far more depleted fisheries if it wernt for south america/asias work in aquaculture.