Can You Identify This Catfish??

sawyer1206

AC Members
Jul 22, 2006
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Angleton, Tx.
I was given this catfish by a friend recently and I am tiring to identify it....any clues?

PICT0073.JPG
 
Brown bullhead (Ameiurus nebulosus). Gets big (at least 24"), always hungry.
 
Personal experience from pulling black bullheads out of my old fishing hole prompted me to do some research because in my life I'd never pulled one out bigger than 12" long so telling me that they get at least 24" I felt slighted. According to the dept of Natural Resources, average adult size of an Ameiurus nebulosus is 8-14". Agreed that they are always hungry, but what large cat isn't? Truly an any water fish, reportedly able to tolerate water to 97 degrees and low levels of dissolved oxygen.
 
thanks for the help....and I am glad she won't get much bigger. I have her in a 200 gallon tank now but I rescued her from an over stocked 30 Gallon tank. Are these fish normally aggressive? She seems to do a lot of fin nipping on my two Bass.
 
they're aggressive because they're predatory in the wild. And yeah, 24" is getting a little liberal, especially for a captive fish. That would be a giant bullhead (if such a thing exists).

I've heard that they are great pets, and can become very social and responsive. However, they are not great with docile fish and may even attack aggressive fish when they are sleeping.

Good luck! And remember, if it gets out of control DO NOT release it into the wild. Even though it's native, it can carry aquarium strains of diseases that may be very harmful to wild fish. You have the responsibility to keep it forever or kill it now. ...... :)
 
Personal experience from pulling black bullheads out of my old fishing hole prompted me to do some research because in my life I'd never pulled one out bigger than 12" long so telling me that they get at least 24" I felt slighted. According to the dept of Natural Resources, average adult size of an Ameiurus nebulosus is 8-14".
Browns get larger than blacks. I've personally caught browns over 20" from a pond on my grandparents' property, and I've seen photos of bigger ones.
 
Yeah, they said that examples up to 7lbs weren't overly uncommon in the wild, but to say "at least 24 inches" is a bit of a stretch, and definately improbable given that it started life in a 30G and will likely be stunted.
 
Stunting is not necessarily a permanent condition, given that fish tend to continue to grow (at a reduced rate after adulthood is reached) until death. With the fish now in a suitable large tank and (presumably) being well fed, I see no reason to not expect it to reach a large size.
 
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