Question about RTC in captivity or wild?[this is a loaded question]

[that_fish_Guy]

How many baby catfish can 1 single female have? Do they lay eggs or are they live bearers? Is it hard to breed them in captivity? And how do the young survive being so small in a rapid amazon river full of predators how do the little 1 inchers survive the current the predators and how in the world can they eat with the water moving so fast? And also are the adults solitary or do they reside in schools or packs? And finally do the parents form a lifelong bond or do they find different mates each year? I am just curious sorry if this question is too complex to answer I'm just curious and I want to gain a deeper understanding of red tailed catfish.


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[doomiedee]

I know that they are egg layers and when they do lay eggs it can be anywhere form a couple hundred to a thousand my guess is the bigger they are the more eggs they will lay. I've read they are fairly hard to breed even in large aquariums so a several 1,000 pond or tank would be suitable for breeding


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[Empyreal]

I would find a documentary on an amazon catfish (may not be a red tail) and you will learn a lot of similarities even if everything isn't exactly similar

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[muskieboy]

I don't think there has been any documented breeding of rtc both in captivity and in the wild. (I could be wrong)

 

[jpcampbell123]

i think they would probably breed better in a large pond set up but as far as i know none have ever been spawned in captivity

 

[UnstoppableJayD]

They are spawned in captivity. I do not know the specifics, but all the babies you see in stores are captive.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

http://www.fishbase.org/summary/Phractocephalus-hemioliopterus.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redtail_catfish (check out the references and links too)

http://www.planetcatfish.com/cotm/cotm.php?article_id=77

http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/FactSheet.aspx?SpeciesID=838

http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/phractocephalus-hemioliopterus/

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fish/redtailedcatfish.php

http://www.fishing-worldrecords.com/scientificname/Phractocephalus hemioliopterus/show

http://www.fishing-worldrecords.com/record/2925/show

How many baby catfish can 1 single female have?
***Great many. The larger the fish, the more eggs it has. IDK exactly but presume thousands to tens of thousands, maybe even hundreds.

Do they lay eggs or are they live bearers?
***Like a vast majority of fish, they are oviparous. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oviparity

Is it hard to breed them in captivity?
***I am under the impression that no natural spawn has ever been reported. The farmers use artificial means.

And how do the young survive being so small in a rapid amazon river
***Just like a baby antelope, who can run in a couple hours after birth, this and other fish are born all equipped to survive. The young live in shallows near the shoreline with little to no current.

full of predators how do the little 1 inchers survive the current the predators
***As usual, perhaps 1 in 10,000 -100,000 survives to maturity.

and how in the world can they eat with the water moving so fast?
***The same way you eat riding on a highway They are fish, they are built to hunt or scavenge a meal and swallow it whole. The only obstacle is that the meal be swallow-able. Again, they are born and grow up first in the flooded forests, creeks, in shoreline habitats, feeding on anything edible.

And also are the adults solitary or do they reside in schools or packs?
***They never school at any age.

And finally do the parents form a lifelong bond or do they find different mates each year?
***IDK of any fish that does that. They may come together for the spawning, many fish of each sex at a time or one female and many males, etc.