Baby Whales at Petco

[i_am_511]

I went to Petco the other night for the 1st time in a while cause i had a gift card and they had something called Mangers Catch Tanks. Fish that they usually dont get in and dont have a place card for. They had Kribs in one tank another tank had 2 Baby Whales for $8.99.

Ive read about them before but never seen them in person before. So i read some more about them to refresh myself on them on my phone and i picked up one of them.

If your wondering what the heck a Baby whale is or which baby whale or whatever its part of the Mormyridae simlar to a elephant nose fish.

[Sursion]

Be careful. I was also thinking of picking one up some months ago and learned that there are at least 5 different fish named 'Baby Whale', each more deadly then the last. However, if you got the fish that looks like a mini sperm whale, they're pretty peaceful and grow to around 5 inches. They also use electromagnetism to navigate.

[kurly]

I didn't know that they sold a fish called Baby Whales. It sounds interesting. Guess I'll google them just to see what they look like.

[SunSchein89]

Man, wish we got interesting stuff like that in our store :smad:.

[mermaidwannabe]

Can you post a photo?

[Pleco380]

Man, wish we got interesting stuff like that in our store :smad:.
Same here. The rare and most interesting thing at the LFS was a gold nugget pleco. After he sold, not much new has ever come.When the LFS get irridescent sharks in, it's pretty cool that the sign says "tank must be 140 gallons minimum." For once they don't just sell it to some guy with a 20g.

[i_am_511]

I hope this pic is good enough..this was the best quick pic i could get. I had to net him from his plant to get a good shot of him.

I know that there are different fish called baby whale the most common and the baby whale is this one. I know about the killer catfish that is also called a baby whale.

It one of those fish that is so boring he is interesting to watch. He just hangs out moves around a lil bit but when lights are off he is out swiming his area. Im tempted to go buy the other one but they go better single or in a group of like 6. But i MIGHT be able to pull it off.

[Dave66]

They are from a family of fishes called Morymids. All navigate the dark or swampy waters they live in using electro receptors, generating the electricity by contracting the muscles in the long caudal peduncle before the tail, and receiving navigational information by receptors on the fish's snout.

Dave

[promise]

My LFS got some in called "Baby whales" thought to myself they look cool, watched an episode of monster fish and these fish are actually catfish it also turned out these things have killed and eaten human beings in the amazon by boring into the flesh and eating the internal organ's. no doubt i didnt go back and buy them!!:hmm3grin2orange:
make sure you research the animal before you buy, especially as dave pointed out, they may be dangerous either by eletrical impulses, sheer aggressiveness, or the fact they can get under your skin literally!!

[kurly]

It looks like a cool little fish but after reading promise's post, All I can think of is Ouch and Ewww!

[i_am_511]

I pointed it out earlier. There are a few fish that are sometimes called baby whales but the main baby whale common name is a from the mormyrid. Your LFS probably had this kind of Baby whale from african. There is a killer catfish from the south american amazon waters that some ppl call a baby whale but that isnt its ""offical common name" like this one.

Also that electro field of there isnt gonna shock you or anything like that. Its how they "see/feel". This baby whale is part of the same family as an elephant nose fish..Looks like them without the ""nose"" aka Jaw.

Here is several examples of this family

[wolf_eyes]

Kurly, on the more common of the baby whale species, the electrical pulse they send out is so minimal it can not harm you at all, it can't harm other fish or worms either if I remember correctly. it's more like ecolocation in bats, only in these fish is is in the form of electricity. The most common fish that can actually do harm to a human due to their electric pulse is an electric eel. Believe me though, the first time i read about the morymid's electrical location system I thought for sure that they would be harmful to humans and said I never would own them:)

[promise]

The type i was talking about was candiru asu

The Most Horrific Candiru: Perhaps the most horrifying Candiru species of all is the Candiru asu. This small catfish is a voracious parasite. It uses its circular mouth and sharp teeth to bite flesh and then enter organisms, leaving behind a wound that looks uncannily like a bullet hole. The Candiru asu proceeds to feed on the organs, literally eating its victim from inside. Human corpses have been discovered in the Amazon filled with more than 100 of these river monsters. Scientists and coroners have determined that the victims may have even been alive and simply incapacitated when the Candiru asu struck.

sometimes referred to as "Baby Whale" by LFS's.
i know what you mean though with different names for the same species of fish.

[bmajestic]

Very cool fish