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Mississippi Catfish Identification Question

Posted: 19 Sep 2006, 02:44
by Fishlover14
Okay, Its been kinda dry down here in Mississippi and we have a really big slough on our place that has dried down to a single mud puddle and being the conservationists that we are, we took it upon ourselves to rescue, or try to rescue, some of the fish.

So, we have around 25 catfish fry that are around one half inch long.

I have researched catfish before and am very familar with them but I just can't seem to identify these.
These are some facts about them.

They have white chin barbels.
They have unforked tails.
They have rather large eyes for Bullheads I would think(My sub-adult bullheads have extremely tiny eyes compared to these)
They are rather long and thin (Maybe this is due to malnutrition but they dont look chunky like my other sub-adult bullheads do)
They have what I would describe as iradescent colors (shiny when light hits it) on their sides.

Based on the unforked tail they shouldn't be channel, blue, or white catfish....I would think?
Based on the chin barbels color they shouldn't be black, brown, or spotted bullheads. I am just looking for a positive ID because I am just not sure what they are.


Here is a photo or two of them (Sry about the horrible photography.)


Image

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And just for the record, I would never leave these catfish in this container. They are simply in it temporarily to be observed.

Posted: 19 Sep 2006, 02:53
by Silurus
Baby yellow bullheads ().

Posted: 19 Sep 2006, 02:56
by Fishlover14
Okay Thanks so much. They should be housed together since they are so young right? What size tank would you recommend for these little ones? Thank so much!!!

Thanks again. I really appreciate this.


Dan :)

Posted: 19 Sep 2006, 03:01
by Silurus
They'd be OK in a 15- or 20-gallon for now.

Posted: 19 Sep 2006, 20:14
by Fishlover14
Okay Thanks for the advice! :)

Dan