Bruce
"I am used to my outdoor tanks regularly being filled with various different types of "live foods' including tadpoles. Yesterday evening when I was feeding my outdoor fish I was surprised to discover that, upon closer inspection, my "pollywogs with whiskers" were actually bullhead fry. I got the alleged parents on a TBAS collecting trip in the summer of 2011. If I can grow out the fry this adventure may turn into a Filter article. I will try to get and post pictures soon."
Bruce
Ron"I put several 1" bullhead catfish into my approximately 500 gallon pond about three years ago. There are, or at least have been, a mixture of other fish in the pond as well. I see outlines or shadows of the catfish from time to time to tell me the some are still in there but I do not know how many or what their exact length is. I don't know which ones are the parents and can only assume that the parents are still in the pond."
Here is a video of my Florida Brown Bullhead Catfish. I tried to take a picture of him, but he won't stand still as you can see in this video. He like to stay under his diftwood log and if you remove it he looks around everywhere for it. As soon as you put it back he is back uder it again. I know the video is poor but there are some parts that are in focus and waite till the end to see what he does. Thanks for watching."Are they the Black Bullhead Catfish or the Brown. I have one Florida Brown Bullhead Catfish. Yes from a TBA collection trip to Lakeland. It's a beautiful fish, small but with brown and white speckles. I will try to get a picture and post it soon!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVY_nM5 ... e=youtu.be[/youtube]
Bruce
Ron"I believe they are black bullhead (Ameiurus melas) based on the coloring, but I am not completely sure. I haven't handled the fish in the past three years so I haven't been able to confirm the number of rays in the anal fin or checked the smoothness of the pectoral spine."
Bruce"Mine is definately a Florida Brown Bullhead it has the brown chocolate mottled coloration."
Ron"The pond is an above ground, rubber lined pond made with cinder blocks. There is a very thick layer of leaves, plant material, etc. on the bottom and and a lot of roots in the water column from plants above the water level. In line with your question and based on the nascent body shape of the fry (even as they have developed over the past few days since I took the picture posted above) I beginning to wonder if it is some type of ancistrus (or another type of catfish) that I forget was in there. "
Ron"Not Ancistrus based on the picture. I have hundreds if not thousands of them and they don't look like that, when young. Sorry! They could be another type of catfish but not Cory's. Probably you are right they are Black bullheads. That's what they look like to me, although I am no expert either."
Most online references say that all three bullheads look closely alike."Here is the best picture I could find of a Black Bullhead Catfish Fry.
Looks like your fish doesn't it. Its a little bigger but the wiskers are the give away."
Brown Bullhead
Yellow Bullhead
Black Bullhead
I can see how it would be confusing to identify fry let alone adults.
By the way the Florida state record brown bullhead was caught in March of this year at Lake Iola in Pasco County. The fish weighed 7.02 pounds and was 22.25 inches in length with a girth of 15.5 inches. Unbelievably, it was just a few ounces shy of the world record.
The Florida State Record for a Yellow Bullhead is 5.05 pounds (15.25 inches).
There is no State Record for a Black Bullhead. According to most reference Black Bullhead Catfish are not native to Florida (See Map)! Surprised me too! Even the Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission does not list them as a native species. So I guess you are stuck with only (2) species to decide from.
Just thought you would be interested in the threads after I read another about the Spotted Bullhead! This is but a portion of the thread. If you would like to read the entire conversation you can go here to view it.
http://tbas1.com/forum/index.php/topic,2475.0.html
The point I am trying to make is that if we had brought the problem to "Planet Catfish" we would have probably had a definitive solution sooner. There are a lot of good experts here, and very knowledgeable people. Thanks everyone!
Ron
