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.