fishlvr;1232483; said:If some of the nicer spotted bullheads would get on the market the channel cat would get kicked out of the hobby. Spotteds (supposedly) only get 12", max. Madtoms would be better to get in the hobby because they're a nice, small-sized, breedable catfish, which means wild populations won't get over-collected for PetStupid to sell them.
I agree, I have a spotted bullhead that I pulled out of a feeder tank a couple of years ago. He's a great fish, a pig, but his looks rival many of those exotic cats people are so nuts about. Ictalurus lupus are gorgeous and relatively small, too, but are so geographically restricted in the wild I hope the trade never latches on to them (and I doubt it ever would).