PlanetCatfish.com

Had to break down my last big tank and I have to get rid of my 2 Dwarf Giraffe Cats, both pushing about 10 inches, awesome and very active. Please email me at raydjr15@aol.com for price and shipping info, thanks.

What species are these? They don't look dwarf to my untrained eye. Are these what they call "bouche"?

Yellowcat (Kirk McKay) states that his bouche grew to 24" and continued growing in the care of the next owner.

If you read the description under the picture in the link it is possibly a new described species which only grows to 12 inches as opposed to 24 inches.

Yes, thanks, I had read it and on that account have written what I have written.

In fact, I am in the market for non-dwarfs. I just don't know if yours are dwarfs or not. I am thoroughly confused by the Auchenoglanis genus, which, btw, is in a taxonomic limbo.

If Birger sees this, it'd be great to know what he is thinking. He is the Auchenoglanis expert. If he told us these are the big ones, then I'd ask you for a price.

Viktor Jarikov wrote:If Birger sees this, it'd be great to know what he is thinking. He is the Auchenoglanis expert. If he told us these are the big ones, then I'd ask you for a price.

Hi Victor, this will help: @Birger.

Cheers, Eric

I'd love to hear from an expert as well, I know species gets misidentified all the time.

Ok, I'll try this too: @Yellowcat

These auchenoglanis can have very fast growth when young and I am sure get to the larger sizes...there is only one species that so far seems to stay small that is the senegali...the others have measurements from studies that only used smaller fish so they can only report what they have found. With more evidence of larger sizes we can adjust the catalog as is stated on each data page for Auchenoglanis.

Birger

Thank you Birger

Keeping in mind a senegali at 10 to 12inches is still a big fish for the home aquarium as far as I am concerned.

Most of the others such as the one above are for specialists with big big big tanks....but are rreally great fish if size is not a problem.

Birger

Birger wrote:Most of the others such as the one above are for specialists with big big big tanks....

@Viktor Jarikov, I think Birger is talking about you.

Cheers, Eric

I've stated before that the world of politics is missing out on Birger

The CichlidKid,
- how long have you had them and
- how much have they grown in your care and
- how the growth rate has been changing (steady, accelerating, decelerating)?

Had them for about 10 months now, they have grown about 6-7inches in that time, growth rate seems as though it is accelerating (depending on the feeding schedule of course.

All right, so how much are you asking and what's your shipping plan and cost? DOA?

Asking 100 for both plus shipping and handling, thanks.

I could ship Saturday if you get back to me soon enough and tell me your zip code.

The price sounds fair. DOA? 34114

If you send me a pic of the DOA within the hour package gets accepted you will get your money back

I have Wednesday off, I forgot Sundays there is no mail, i can ship out Wednesday, this way I won't feed cats for 48 hours prior to shipping, safer that way anyway. Ill get shipping price later today or tomorrow morning.

They are very robust fish, thus, I'd fast them for 4 days at a minimum, better a week due to their already considerable size. Do you have a PayPal account? That'd be very easy and free of charge to pay with.

I assume you will be quoting a 1-day / overnight shipping. If you can do airport-to-airport, I could pick them up in Ft. Myers.

raydjr15@aol.com is my paypal, i will get quote tomorrow, i will ask about sending to Ft. Myers airport, thanks.

Viktor asked me to chime in on this so here's my input: Well I can say that the photo's show that these fish are definitely the 'bouche' variety of a. occidentals, I obtained mine from Rehoboth Aquatics, the first to import them I believe and I raised and sold a pair years ago when they grew past 15", the second owner sold them again when they reached around 24" and were reported to continue to grow larger after. The term "dwarf giraffe catfish" usually is given to parauchenoglanis species. Within the genus auchenoglanis, two varieties have been reported to remain smaller, one a. senegali and the other is an a. occidentalis that comes from Ghana from the Volta River system. At the time I kept the 'bouche" species I never sexed them which is a factor to consider with growth rate and ultimate size. With a. wittei, I raised and sold a female a year or so ago when she got too large for her environs at 17". I currently have another a. wittei, this one a male and it's growth seems slower and it's size isn't as large as the female's was for the same amount of time, suggesting that there could be an important difference in ultimate size based on gender but likely not so much to make a difference of more than a few inches overall… In any case, beautiful fish, the 'bouche' variety have very distinct, striking markings and patterns, nice...

the other is an a. occidentalis that comes from Ghana from the Volta River system.

@yellowcat I would be interested to see a picture of this fish would you know of one??

Birger

Hi Birger, I had seen a picture of one on an old forum post, probably on the MFK website but can't find it, it looked like a common a. occidentalis, no distinguishing features really. I just found another post on the same site where it was stated that the keeper had 2 Volta River catfish that never reached 12" in 2 years in a 240G tank( no photo) and had previously raised an a. occidentalis of unknown origin that grew to 22" in a much smaller tank, in just over a year, as many seem to do. The one importer I previously mentioned has gotten Volta River specimens in the past and I'd like to get one when they show up again. Sorry to say, just anecdotal info so far...

Just found this, said to be a Volta River species..

First I have heard of a variant of this kind...makes sense though from this area.

I will also watch for any sign of it...will ask around.

Birger

Hey just got back from usps, it would almost be the same to Ft. Meyers airport or that zip code you gave me, the gentleman said 45-55 bucks for overnight shipping. Let me know what your thinking pal, thanks.

Many kudos to Birger and Kirk. I have been seeing the mentions of both bouche and volta varieties for some time now but have never known what to make of them. Thanks to you I have some reasonable expectation for the bouche. Volta seems still mysterious due to so little (second hand) info.

TheCichlidKid15 wrote:Hey just got back from usps, it would almost be the same to Ft. Meyers airport or that zip code you gave me, the gentleman said 45-55 bucks for overnight shipping. Let me know what your thinking pal, thanks.

Sounds reasonable. That's about the max overnight shipping fee for USPS (IIRC) and I assume because you will be using a good amount of water. It doesn't make sense to be shipping to the airport then, just ship them to my address. My current water temp is 85-89 F. What's yours? If we are in agreement, let me know how much $$ to PayPal you, $150?