This fish arrived in absolutely perfect condition. He hails from Salt River, Arizona. The Arizona state record is 53 in., Roosevelt Lake
Andrew Srejic, Avondale 9/23/06 fish weighed in at 73 lbs. I have found unconfirmed specimens from the salt river weighing in the 50-60 lbs range. This one came in measuring just under 8.5" TL. Was surprised to see him so big. I will be updating this thread at least weekly so that we can track and learn about the growth and behavior of this fish together.
I'm not sure why, but this species has been very elusive to me. lol. I have tried my hand at catching them in the wild many times without any success. My brother caught one, and sent me pics to confirm. Since he is in North Carolina, and I am in Montana there was no way to keep the fish alive. lol, so they fillet and ate it, but froze the skeleton and head for me. I retrieved that specimen a year later and mounted the skeleton. I wasn't content with one dead Flathead though. So I started posting in the buy and sale section on many different sites. Nothing came of it the first few years. Then some people contacted me to say they would get some the next year, but never heard anything else. Finally I had some people with confirmed flatheads that were willing to ship to me, but I was homeless. lol. So that didn't work either. Now the pieces have finally fallen into place, and I was pointed in the right direction two weeks ago and finally was able to make this happen. I have to give a special shout out to JurassicAquatics!!! These guys rock!!! They not only saved the last flathead they had for me, but gave me the one they were thinking of keeping themselves. They reported to me that it was wild caught from salt river. Also that this one had been housed with aggressive fish much larger than it and it was capable of holding it's own.
I know from reading hatchery reports that this species can be highly aggressive and very territorial. They are also cannibalistic on a whole new level. Apparently hatcheries have a tough time producing them because they eat each other so much. They have to feed flatheads much more than other species of catfish to keep the cannibalism down. We shall see what the growth rate is like on this one as well. I would hope that oddball or someone could chime in on some of this as I know he has helped to producing fingerlings of this species as well.
Now for when the fish arrived here in Montana today. At the airport I was shocked at the size box they brought out. I was expecting a 4-5" fish so a 14" box seemed excessive, not that I mind my fish having extra water lol. The lady was very excited and wanted me to open the box to ensure it arrived alive and to see what it was. When I pulled it out it began flipping in the large bag. lol. The lady jumped. She asked how big it gets and I told her like 5'. lol, she said please don't put those in the river or I will never go swimming again!!! So I left and took the 9 mile drive to my place. After measuring and acclimating this one I added him to the 100 gal aquarium. At first he just swam in the current and then went to find a hiding spot. The only one really available is where the sun cats, and doradids hang out. So of course this savage of a fish swims in there and kicks them all out lol. The sun catfish weren't gonna have any of that so they went in both at the same time and started biting his sides and tail. He started flipping around biting them super quick. He was very ferocious. The biggest sun catfish is about 1.5-2" longer than this guy and probably 5x his girth. He kept kicking it out as well. lol. So finally when the double team of aggressive sun cats couldn't oust the new tank boss they started fighting each other in an attempt to re establish the pecking order of the tank. They battled for about an hour before the smaller one finally conceded defeat to the larger one and went to the other side of the tank to sulk and rest. The flathead wouldn't let them back in for another hour. Then reluctantly he let the big one in, and then the smaller one. So now under the same piece of driftwood I have a 11" sun cat, a 9" sun cat, a 8.5" flathead, a 6-7" raph, a 6" granulosus, lol. this whole time the vulture catfish just watched them and every now and then the suncats would mistake him and give him a bite. He didn't seem to notice. He is the longest fish in the tank and definitely has the most fierce bite as well. Good thing he didn't join in on the fight. They are all getting along well after so much drama!!! I have some awesome vid of the fight as well. No one was injured save for some scratches and light bruising. This flathead is amazingly aggressive. I have another surprise fish coming soon as well. I wanted to do a grow out of some giants from two different continents. So soon I should have an Sperata aor to compare to this guy!!!! I just hope they can get along lol
Andrew Srejic, Avondale 9/23/06 fish weighed in at 73 lbs. I have found unconfirmed specimens from the salt river weighing in the 50-60 lbs range. This one came in measuring just under 8.5" TL. Was surprised to see him so big. I will be updating this thread at least weekly so that we can track and learn about the growth and behavior of this fish together.
I'm not sure why, but this species has been very elusive to me. lol. I have tried my hand at catching them in the wild many times without any success. My brother caught one, and sent me pics to confirm. Since he is in North Carolina, and I am in Montana there was no way to keep the fish alive. lol, so they fillet and ate it, but froze the skeleton and head for me. I retrieved that specimen a year later and mounted the skeleton. I wasn't content with one dead Flathead though. So I started posting in the buy and sale section on many different sites. Nothing came of it the first few years. Then some people contacted me to say they would get some the next year, but never heard anything else. Finally I had some people with confirmed flatheads that were willing to ship to me, but I was homeless. lol. So that didn't work either. Now the pieces have finally fallen into place, and I was pointed in the right direction two weeks ago and finally was able to make this happen. I have to give a special shout out to JurassicAquatics!!! These guys rock!!! They not only saved the last flathead they had for me, but gave me the one they were thinking of keeping themselves. They reported to me that it was wild caught from salt river. Also that this one had been housed with aggressive fish much larger than it and it was capable of holding it's own.
I know from reading hatchery reports that this species can be highly aggressive and very territorial. They are also cannibalistic on a whole new level. Apparently hatcheries have a tough time producing them because they eat each other so much. They have to feed flatheads much more than other species of catfish to keep the cannibalism down. We shall see what the growth rate is like on this one as well. I would hope that oddball or someone could chime in on some of this as I know he has helped to producing fingerlings of this species as well.
Now for when the fish arrived here in Montana today. At the airport I was shocked at the size box they brought out. I was expecting a 4-5" fish so a 14" box seemed excessive, not that I mind my fish having extra water lol. The lady was very excited and wanted me to open the box to ensure it arrived alive and to see what it was. When I pulled it out it began flipping in the large bag. lol. The lady jumped. She asked how big it gets and I told her like 5'. lol, she said please don't put those in the river or I will never go swimming again!!! So I left and took the 9 mile drive to my place. After measuring and acclimating this one I added him to the 100 gal aquarium. At first he just swam in the current and then went to find a hiding spot. The only one really available is where the sun cats, and doradids hang out. So of course this savage of a fish swims in there and kicks them all out lol. The sun catfish weren't gonna have any of that so they went in both at the same time and started biting his sides and tail. He started flipping around biting them super quick. He was very ferocious. The biggest sun catfish is about 1.5-2" longer than this guy and probably 5x his girth. He kept kicking it out as well. lol. So finally when the double team of aggressive sun cats couldn't oust the new tank boss they started fighting each other in an attempt to re establish the pecking order of the tank. They battled for about an hour before the smaller one finally conceded defeat to the larger one and went to the other side of the tank to sulk and rest. The flathead wouldn't let them back in for another hour. Then reluctantly he let the big one in, and then the smaller one. So now under the same piece of driftwood I have a 11" sun cat, a 9" sun cat, a 8.5" flathead, a 6-7" raph, a 6" granulosus, lol. this whole time the vulture catfish just watched them and every now and then the suncats would mistake him and give him a bite. He didn't seem to notice. He is the longest fish in the tank and definitely has the most fierce bite as well. Good thing he didn't join in on the fight. They are all getting along well after so much drama!!! I have some awesome vid of the fight as well. No one was injured save for some scratches and light bruising. This flathead is amazingly aggressive. I have another surprise fish coming soon as well. I wanted to do a grow out of some giants from two different continents. So soon I should have an Sperata aor to compare to this guy!!!! I just hope they can get along lol
