What type of catfish is this?

[callysaan]

My kid caught this fish in the snake river, and now it's in the 75gal tank with my 2 res

[JCheco]

Google says these are the local catfish of the snake river. All seem way to big for a home aquarium

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/catfish/blue.php

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/catfish/flathead.php

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/catfish/channel.php

[skullduggery1]

A bullhead catfish,max size" around" 16 inches.You can tell the difference betwween the species as bullheads have flattened edges to the tail and the others have forked tails.(channel catfish,blues)

[Lady Hobbs]

I would not put any wild caught fish in my aquarium without some kind of quarantine for a time and none at all unless I knew what it was. Wild caught can be diseased with internal and external parasites, bacterial infections, etc.

[UncleWillie]

It is no doubt a bullhead (Ameiurus sp.) of some sort. Likely either a yellow or a black bullhead - not a channel, blue, or flathead. The best way to distinguish what kind of bullhead you have is to look at the chin barbels. If the chin barbels are light or white then you have a yellow bullhead (A. natalis), and if they are black or darkly pigmented then you have a black bullhead (A. melas).

[callysaan]

Thanks for the help. I think I am going to take him to the lake and let him lose. my turtles and him dont seem to like sharing the tank. it was cool to see him swim around in there.

[sailor]

In the future I would check with your local chapter of Fish & Wildlife or your equiv before hand as in a lot of places it is against the law to keep live fish for release in a home aquarium.

[callysaan]

Yea it wasn't a planned thing my 6yr old went fishing with his uncle and caught it on the trip. it was in a fish string when they brought it home and layed in my sink for about an hour before ending up in the turtle tank. I'm not a big fan of eating fish + it was small so where it was still alive it ended up in my tank for the time being. the river they caught it in is just up the road i might take it back and through it in.

[UncleWillie]

No. I will not write you the long-winded posts I write to others, so in short:

When you take a fish out of it's home (either for food, or for aquarium use) it should be considered dead. You should never return that fish to its original body of water or any other 'wild' waters. If you don't want the fish, fine, but do not release it into a lake or the river or anything. Either euthanize it and throw it in the trash or bury it next to your plants (dead fish make awesome fertilizer btw).

It is illegal to stock any fish into any 'wild' body of water unless permitted by your local authorities. So unless you plan on keeping the fish, either put it in your privately owned pond or euthanize it.

[UncleWillie]

It's amazing how so many people freak out when you bring a wild fish into an aquarium - everyone worries about introducing disease and parasites to their pet fish. No one ever seems to freak out about the opposite - introducing disease from aquariums to the wild. Think about it people... the thousands of wild fish are in need of protection too - not just the few pet fish in a tiny tank. Let's use our heads.

[SmokeyCFH]

I've got one of those in my tank. He's awesome. And i would never think about giving him up or putting him back in the wild. he'd never be able to hold his own or fend for himself. But he's a slow grower in my tank and is about 8" or so. very active at night.

[Aeonflame]

No one ever seems to freak out about the opposite - introducing disease from aquariums to the wild. Think about it people... the thousands of wild fish are in need of protection too - not just the few pet fish in a tiny tank. Let's use our heads.


As far as I am aware, releasing fish into the wild has neither been condoned nor advised here.

[UncleWillie]

Yeah. After re-reading my post it sounds a bit harsher than it did in my head. I hope my tone is not offensive.

It just hit me how so many members jump on others about bringing home wild fish and worrying about transmission of pathogens, but no one seems to care if a member says they'll just go through a fish back into the wild.

Smokey, how long have you had your bullhead? I have two snail bullheads right now (had them for a hair over a year), and they have only grown from 2'' to about 4''. I didn't know if you knew the growth rate on your guy.

[SmokeyCFH]

i've had him two or three years now, i got him at about 4-5" and he's about 8" now.

http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll170/jsavoyiv2008/DSCN2902.jpg

[Captain America]

It's amazing how so many people freak out when you bring a wild fish into an aquarium - everyone worries about introducing disease and parasites to their pet fish. No one ever seems to freak out about the opposite - introducing disease from aquariums to the wild. Think about it people... the thousands of wild fish are in need of protection too - not just the few pet fish in a tiny tank. Let's use our heads.


Excellent point! Never thought about it that way

[RWaltman]

i've had him two or three years now, i got him at about 4-5" and he's about 8" now.

http://i288.photobucket.com/albums/ll170/jsavoyiv2008/DSCN2902.jpg


...did you put a bong in your aquarium?

[WhistlingBadger]

Native fish are fun. I love my tropical tank, but I miss my old native set up. Just watching them eat (zip, zip, zip, BAM! Zip, zip, zip...) was worth the price of admission. Alas, the native setup did not ultimately pass the wife's Living Room Aesthetics Test (I'm sure some of you will understand).

Anyway, I always wanted to try a bullhead, since they don't get very big. I always had good luck with channel cats when I was a youngster, except for two things: They are extremely predatory, and they WILL outgrow any reasonable sized tank. If only I had room and money for one of those multi-thousand gallon Cabelas style setups...

Smokey, are you in Wyoming? I kept native wyo fish for years, and as long as you stick with the non-game varieties, you can buy a minnow permit and make it all nice and legal (found this out from a game warden who didn't take it kindly when I told him I had channel cats in my aquarium). There are ways to keep game fish legally too, but I'm not sure what they are--check with your local fisheries biologist. Probably not worth the hassle, when there are so many truly beautiful and fascinating non-game species. Shiners, plains minnows, long-nose dace, and darters are all interesting, nice to look at, and can all do well in a well-aerated cool-water aquarium. There are no doubt lots of others I don't know about, too.

Bullheads are classed as a game fish in Wyo, so keeping them isn't legal if you're worried about such things.

I agree, though, about releasing a fish back into the wild. Not a good idea for lots of reasons. I'd say either keep it, fry it up, of use it as fertilizer.

Tom

[CoryNinja]

looks like a brown/yellow bullhead, they're all over north america, but generally too large for average home aquaria