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I bought this Catfish and was told it was a porthole
Posted: 25 Aug 2012, 01:08
by Unbiased
Im new here and I was told it was a porthole catfish and when i got home i googled them and im pretty sure its not a porthole. I really hope its not a bullhead.
Any ideas from veteran catfish keepers?
heres some pics.
Thanks
(yes its in a small glass bowl only for pics before i put it in the real tank)

Re: I bought this Catfish and was told it was a porthole
Posted: 25 Aug 2012, 01:50
by Dave Rinaldo
I really hope its not a bullhead.
Sorry! It's not a 'hoplo', but an
Ictalurus.
Re: I bought this Catfish and was told it was a porthole
Posted: 25 Aug 2012, 02:05
by Birger
Close Dave

but I think it is a
a spotted bullhead
Birger
Re: I bought this Catfish and was told it was a porthole
Posted: 25 Aug 2012, 03:06
by Dave Rinaldo
Ooops! Should have been a link to Ictaluridae
Here's a thread with another thought on ID.
Re: I bought this Catfish and was told it was a porthole
Posted: 25 Aug 2012, 13:33
by Viktor Jarikov
Warm welcome, neighbor.
I agree on the ID.
"snail bullhead" may be mentioned too, albeit it is less likely, IMO.
Why do you hope it is not a bullhead? Too big?
is one of the smallest bullheads, maxing out at about a foot TL (total length) and, IMO, the most attractive. The other species of bullheads grow to 1.5'-2', except
that also stays at around 1 foot.
Re: I bought this Catfish and was told it was a porthole
Posted: 25 Aug 2012, 14:41
by Unbiased
Viktor Jarikov wrote:Warm welcome, neighbor.
I agree on the ID.
"snail bullhead" may be mentioned too, albeit it is less likely, IMO.
Why do you hope it is not a bullhead? Too big?
is one of the smallest bullheads, maxing out at about a foot TL (total length) and, IMO, the most attractive. The other species of bullheads grow to 1.5'-2', except
that also stays at around 1 foot.
Yes its a lil too big for what i was looking for.
Well i have nothing against the bullheads and I use to have an about 3 foot shovel cat in my 800 gallon tank a fews years back and i loved it, larger catfish are great to own . Love their personalities ,but I was looking for portholes because they are smaller and could go in my planted 55 gallon, also the other larger tanks(500,800,1500) are all ready maxed out. But i only got for 5 bucks so i guess i can grow him out and sell/trade him when he/she gets too big.
Re: I bought this Catfish and was told it was a porthole
Posted: 25 Aug 2012, 18:50
by crkinney
I ain't no expert but I ate a mess of those guys for dinner last nite,with a mess of grits and greens
Re: I bought this Catfish and was told it was a porthole
Posted: 25 Aug 2012, 22:26
by Viktor Jarikov
Sounds like a plan.
I hope you stick around. We appear to share some goals/passions and you have real nice size tanks. There are quite few such tanks around here. It'd be interesting to learn more and see your setups... if and when you are willing.
Re: I bought this Catfish and was told it was a porthole
Posted: 20 Dec 2012, 17:17
by Osprey
What you've got there is a good ole Florida Brown Bullhead. I'm 100% positive! I've seen a many of them.
Re: I bought this Catfish and was told it was a porthole
Posted: 20 Dec 2012, 18:57
by Richard B
Osprey wrote:What you've got there is a good ole Florida Brown Bullhead. I'm 100% positive! I've seen a many of them.
I don't think this is a brown bullhead (a.nebulosus) the flanks are too patterned - far more likely a. Serracanthus
Re: I bought this Catfish and was told it was a porthole
Posted: 21 Dec 2012, 13:56
by Viktor Jarikov
Another common name for
is Florida bullhead, AFAIK. Anyway, I've seen it for sale under such label and even bought too.
Florida brown bullhead I've never heard of but imagine they may be called as such in some places. Another case against common names as they create (often not always) confusion.