On the difficulty of correctly identifying your Goonch. (Bagarius)
- Thread starter Chicxulub
- Start date
In my personal opinion it would have to be temperature at large sizes. What kills the fish is having a natural habitat in cold water and as they get larger they need more oxygen. The warmer water even with excessive air pumps can not physically hold enough oxygen for the fish to thrive past 30 inches. Egon will probably have the largest captive Yarrelli because he does take a lot of care in his goonch and knows it is happy at the lower temperature ranges. Many however want to keep it in their larger tropical tanks and in the end it only serves to hurt the fish when it gets larger and is why we dont see large goonch cats around. All older goonch threads have gone dead by the OP usually a sign of fish casualty.
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Ooops. Wrong place to post.
Stop busting my balls and watch game of thrones
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Awesome write up. 
Well studied and soundly understood. I can't wait for the revision. Many fish in that area need revision badly. I too dream of keeping bagarius, but wait until I feel I can do it properly. I am a catfish nut so you had me from the first sentence lol.
Well studied and soundly understood. I can't wait for the revision. Many fish in that area need revision badly. I too dream of keeping bagarius, but wait until I feel I can do it properly. I am a catfish nut so you had me from the first sentence lol. Awesome write up.
Haha glad you liked it, Cliff!
The first sentence is what I originally titled it when I posted it, but I was afraid that title would cause the vast majority of members who don't work in biology to just go 'huh?', so I changed it. I didn't want to confuse anyone lol.
I think there are very few members who are better qualified to care for a big catfish than you.
I am not a biology major but biology books (especially about catfish) are a favorite reading material of mine. lol, tnx for the compliments but I don't feel like much of a success as of late. I know I am definitely not the best equipped or funded for sure lol. My problem has always been that I dream big, but on a budget.
I always enjoy reading the info you put together. Really impressive research and thanks for clearing up the dwarf by "comparison" and REAL dwarf confusion. So since there is this species that doesn't get over 8", has anyone been able to successfully identify one when they are younger or kept one long enough to know? I remember reading that there was documentation based on morphological similarities to B. Bagarius. Now would that mean that identifying the REAL dwarf would difficult given its similarity to the B. Bagarius? Sorry if is redundant just trying to clarify.
Thank you for the compliment.
The original dwarf was described by Roberts in '83 based on a small North Indian giant specimen and used to describe a population of fish from Thailand. Dr. Ng stated that he could find no difference between the dwarf holotype and the true giants, leading to the conclusion that the 'dwarf' was just a small version of a North Indian Giant. This would mean that Roberts' description was invalid.
To the subject of the properly nameless Thai dwarves, I have seen no evidence of their actually existing. I acquired a 'Thai dwarf' this past March. She has since turned out to be a Bagarius rutilus.
I find that very interesting. I acquire a fish that is spot on for the description of a dwarf, but over time she grew out to a hair over 10" (too big to be a dwarf) and gained the telling orange fins. Estarego8 and I discussed the concept of this morph as being a rutilus, but I doubted it based on the lack of orange fins. Then all of a sudden, my fish grows too big and has the orange fins. The typical rounded head of the dwarfs is disappearing from her as she gets bigger, she's getting the straight backed profile.
While it goes against what I've thought for a while, when you're slapped in the face with facts, you have to accept them. It now appears that the 'dwarf goonch' is in fact nothing but a juvenile rutilus. Mine definitely grows slower than the big Indians do. She's also an incredible PITA go get to eat at times. She was also very hard to break to pellets. I have a sneaking suspicion that a lot of these fish might go to owners who are expecting dwarfs who then aren't overly concerned at the lack of eating and lack of growth who unintentionally stunt the fish.
If there is a true dwarf goonch, I find it unlikey that we've had them in the hobby with any regularity. I'm beginning to have some very real doubts that they exist at all; if it turns out that the majority of our 'dwarf' goonches are in fact young rutilus, then we have to really rethink the evidence that supports their existence.
