Jools,

OK, OK, I finally get the hint to flip my sig around (no wonder you flipped my first avatar around).
I'll be good now, I promise...please don't ban me from the forum.

Jerry, Sounds like your fish IS <i>Ompok</i>, probably not the true <i>bimaculatus</i>. The Southeast Asian <i>Ompok</i> often identified as <i>O. bimaculatus</i> shows up regularly in the trade, so I'll bet that's what you have...<i>O. siluroides</i>. Heok Hee

But the weird thing in scientific publication (if you look at a good many papers) is that the fish are always facing left, irrespective of page number.
Maybe we scientists are just philistines when it comes to the aesthetic side of publishing.

Dinyar, <i>Ompok</i> is eaten whenever they occur naturally. In parts of India, they are considered a premium food fish. Though I have never eaten <i>Ompok</i>, I have eaten other silurids (<i>Wallago</i> and <i>Micronema</i>), and I cansay they taste pretty good (but not like butter). I especially ...

I hope your oncinus makes it. I had an equally harrowing experience when I bought my <i>L. morrowi</i>. The person whom I bought the fish from (not a dealer, she was just getting rid of them) double bagged the fish, but they either managed to puncture the bags with their spines or the postal service...

That's not a horrible creature. That's my dream catfish...<i>Bagrichthys hypselopterus</i>, the king of all lancers.
Have yet to see a real live one, though. The one in the picture was very dead when it was purchased in a fish market in Sumatra.

Jools,

I can make it swim to the right, if you really insist. It's just that in taking pictures of fish specimens for publication, the usual standard is to have the fish face the left.
I'll also try to get in touch with the owner of the photo to see if it can be included in the Cat-eLog.

Chill,

Just give me a mailing address, and and a copy will be on its way to you.

Just received my copy of the Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington today. there is a description of a new <i>Aspidoras</i> in there. <i>Aspidoras velites</i> is described from the upper Rio Araguaia basin. Britto, M. R., F. C. T. Lima & C. R. Moreira, 2002. <i>Aspidoras velites</i>...

Thanks for editing the image, Jools and Chill. Would have liked to use it as my avatar, but I think it looks less impressive that way.

Heok Hee

To sidetrack a little, I always thougt the most slippery catfish were <i>Clarias</i> (even more so than silurids). I've had many a fun time trying to hold on to them during field trips.

Heok Hee

I always thought the name butter cat had something to do with their taste (at least I recall reading that in reference to <i>Ompok</i> in an Indian reference).

Heok Hee

Testing, testing.
Just checking to see how my new sig is showing up. This catfish rocks!
Jools, would it be better off as my avatar?

Dinyar,

If you look up FishBase under <i>Ompok bimaculatus</i>, you will see the common name given as butter catfish.

Heok Hee

Shouldn't be a problem. You'll have to monitor the situation closely to make sure they don't run out of algae and starve.

Heok Hee

The name butter catfish is also applied to some members of the genus <i>Ompok</i>, particularly the Indian species.

Heok Hee

Rusty,

Just tried again and it works. But the picture is WAAY too big, so I'll still need to resize it.

Heok Hee

Rusty,

I tried a test post, and all I got what a broken image link. However, the picture was kind of big, so I'll resize it tomorrow and try.

Heok Hee

Jools,

What is the maximum size allowed for a picture to show up in the post (either in the message body or in the signature).
I have scanned a picture of that rockin' catfish I told you about and want to try using it in my signature.

Heok Hee

Dinyar, Cetopsids eat "regular" catfish food (invertebrates, etc.) in the wild. I have several mottled brown <i>Pseudocetopsis</i> in my tanks right now, and I never see them come out from their hiding place under the PVC pipes, even at night, but they appear well-fed, and sometimes during...

No, not all trichomycterids are parasitic. This is one of the most maligned of all catfishes. Only two subfamilies (Vandellinae and Stegophilinae) are parasitic, and attacks on humans (which are very rare) are always due to accidents rather than by design. They are rare imports, as I would imagine t...

Ssp. would be subspecies. Very few ichthyologists use rankings below the secies level.
The only other abbreviation not mentioned is spp., which is just the abbreviation for species in plural (species is spelled the same for both singular and plural).

Heok Hee

Conny,

Got your pic. Need an email address to send it to.

Heok Hee

SG, I kept <i>Pseudostegophilus</i> once. A parasite and a fairly large one at that. Large feeder goldfish and koi could not survive one night in the same tank. That said, Mario de Pinna had a beautiful <i>Trichomycterus</i> sp. in his apartment when I was visiting back in 1998. I think a fair numbe...

Conny,

I may be able to send you a scan of <i>Liposarcus multiradiatus</i>, but it'll be from a scientific publication and be that of a dead fish. Will that do?

Heok Hee

Looks like a member of the <i>C. barbatus</i> group.

Heok Hee

Depends on whether you have the space for it. Pangasiids need a lot of swimming room and can grow fairly large. They are not really suitable for the average aquarist because they do best in a very large tank.

Heok Hee

Dinyar,

First we would have to convince them to visit the forum (and I think we would agree that would be very difficult to say the least).

Heok Hee

Azlan,

Nope, the correct spelling should be sanitswongsei.

Heok Hee

Nope, it's a pangasiid.

Heok Hee