Mekong catfish or not

[MatteoTheEnder22]

Here is a collection of links for mekong giant catfishes at least here on mfk

Found a giant mekong catfish

the guy selling the fish said this catfish is the giant mekong catfish, need help identifying it if its real or nah

www.monsterfishkeepers.com

Found Mekong Giant Catfish

Just got a supplier from Thailand sells these cats. Will be ordering them end of this month. Although farm version, still no less impressive. *Pangasianodon gigas

www.monsterfishkeepers.com

Pangasianodon Gigas/Giant Mekong Catfish

Wondering, does anyone here have pictures of juvenile mekong giant cat? Currently searching for a supplier who has em. Found a few but have some doubts about the mekong giant they supply. Here's the picture.

www.monsterfishkeepers.com

All these came in as "Mekong Giant Catfish"

These 3 cats (excluding the big silver one which came in as such as well) all came in as "Mekong Giant Cats" at different batches. The first one (beat up from transport) looks more of a irshark. The second one resembles the MGC idea on my mind. No whiskers, downturned eyes, with a different...

www.monsterfishkeepers.com

Guess what this is...the answer might suprise you

They look like thesee http://youtu.be/e4wMgsupGg0 Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app Thank u for your reply. I think that your point on them being hybrids may be true but still i have my fingers crossed:) Although i have to disagree with the "body without stripes"...

www.monsterfishkeepers.com

So this guy here is part Paroon not Mekong? Either way it's a gorgeous cat to me. Lol just no way I would be able to house one.

View attachment 1433063

I found the photo literally 5 minutes before you posted it lol. Honestly I like it better than most hybrids because I’m not really a guy too like hybrids but if this one is on sale I will buy it in a instant lol.

 

[Magnus_Bane]

Here is a collection of links for mekong giant catfishes at least here on mfk

Found a giant mekong catfish

the guy selling the fish said this catfish is the giant mekong catfish, need help identifying it if its real or nah

www.monsterfishkeepers.com

Found Mekong Giant Catfish

Just got a supplier from Thailand sells these cats. Will be ordering them end of this month. Although farm version, still no less impressive. *Pangasianodon gigas

www.monsterfishkeepers.com

Pangasianodon Gigas/Giant Mekong Catfish

Wondering, does anyone here have pictures of juvenile mekong giant cat? Currently searching for a supplier who has em. Found a few but have some doubts about the mekong giant they supply. Here's the picture.

www.monsterfishkeepers.com

All these came in as "Mekong Giant Catfish"

These 3 cats (excluding the big silver one which came in as such as well) all came in as "Mekong Giant Cats" at different batches. The first one (beat up from transport) looks more of a irshark. The second one resembles the MGC idea on my mind. No whiskers, downturned eyes, with a different...

www.monsterfishkeepers.com

Guess what this is...the answer might suprise you

They look like thesee http://youtu.be/e4wMgsupGg0 Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app Thank u for your reply. I think that your point on them being hybrids may be true but still i have my fingers crossed:) Although i have to disagree with the "body without stripes"...

www.monsterfishkeepers.com

I found the photo literally 5 minutes before you posted it lol. Honestly I like it better than most hybrids because I’m not really a guy too like hybrids but if this one is on sale I will buy it in a instant lol.

Lol got an Olympic sized swimming pool for it? Definitely going to need one if ya want to keep a fish that can get to 6ft+. That and ya better have access to all the farmers fields just to feed it hahaha.

 

[Fishman Dave]

Not sure where your getting vegetarian from. The MGC is a carnivore !
Admittedly not an eat big fish one but still a carnivore eating mostly what it can find off the bottom. I guess that would be, crabs, shrimp, other fish, etc. etc.

 

[GiantFishKeeper101]

To me, in OP's post are the MGC. They have distinctive head.

thebiggerthebetter what I had previously are the true MGC, they're common fish here in SEA. So common in pet trading that you can tell it right away. I agree back then I knew nothing about this fish but after some time, I'm starting to noticed they regularly imported in the hobby. In thai they started to breed these shortbodies, platinums MGCs. About the growth, captive & wild have different growth rate. You can't compare these 2.

Magnus_Bane the photo you posted are the MGC, piebald morph

vincentwugwg there're plenty of farms that breed these MGCs. I have plenty of Thai friends that sells deformed MGCs.

 

[vincentwugwg]

Short bodied MGC

 

[MatteoTheEnder22]

To me, in OP's post are the MGC. They have distinctive head.

thebiggerthebetter what I had previously are the true MGC, they're common fish here in SEA. So common in pet trading that you can tell it right away. I agree back then I knew nothing about this fish but after some time, I'm starting to noticed they regularly imported in the hobby. In thai they started to breed these shortbodies, platinums MGCs. About the growth, captive & wild have different growth rate. You can't compare these 2.

Magnus_Bane the photo you posted are the MGC, piebald morph

vincentwugwg there're plenty of farms that breed these MGCs. I have plenty of Thai friends that sells deformed MGCs.

How do you know its a piebald morph I've looking and I couldn't find anything about it, also vincentwugwg how do you find all these rare fish? Please tell me the name of your importer.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

So this guy here is part Paroon not Mekong? Either way it's a gorgeous cat to me. Lol just no way I would be able to house one.

View attachment 1433063

Per famous ichthyologist and catfish taxonomist Dr. Heok Hee Ng (aka Silurus on Planet Catfish) this is an Iridescent shark catfish, neither a hybrid, nor an MGC. This is back from 2013. Per:
http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=38667 (the OP photo is the same as this one; just the link is broken now)

Fantastic two-color orca-like IDS - a striking freak of nature!

http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=38667

www.monsterfishkeepers.com

Not sure where your getting vegetarian from. The MGC is a carnivore !
Admittedly not an eat big fish one but still a carnivore eating mostly what it can find off the bottom. I guess that would be, crabs, shrimp, other fish, etc. etc.

Carnivore it does not appear to be. Per FishBase: A migratory species which occurs in medium to large-sized rivers. Feeds on detritus & algae on the bottom; feeds only on vegetation in the river but takes other food in captivity; little is known on its general pattern of life & migratory journeys for spawning.

Magnus_Bane the photo you posted are the MGC, piebald morph

Per above, you'd have to argue this with Dr. H. H Ng, who ID'ed it as IDS. Now, Silurus can be wrong sometimes (he doesn't have the luxury of too much time to help us out on Planet Catfish), but it is exceedingly rare. He is most usually right, 1000x more often than us mere mortals.

thebiggerthebetter what I had previously are the true MGC, they're common fish here in SEA. So common in pet trading that you can tell it right away. I agree back then I knew nothing about this fish but after some time, I'm starting to noticed they regularly imported in the hobby. In thai they started to breed these shortbodies, platinums MGCs. About the growth, captive & wild have different growth rate. You can't compare these 2.

I don't believe I have ever seen any proof that the different looking pangasids weren't some hybrids, whether or not involving MGC, while we do know the fish farmers in SE Asia have been experimenting with hybridization of pangasids for decades.

Furthermore, I don't believe I have seen a compelling proof that any of the fish you are referring to were MGC. Just stating that they are, or stating that they are because they look different, doesn't prove they are MGC. In fact, it only poses a riddle without an answer.

I can and do compare the two. In my experience of raising large-growing catfish, I see no reason to believe the captivity growth rate should be sub par to the rate in the wild. On the opposite, when the fish are given ample space and good diet (and I am not talking about farm culls but wild caught fish), they can grow faster because of stable food source, no hostile seasons, no interruptions from the breeding season, overall higher year round temperature, etc.

vincentwugwg there're plenty of farms that breed these MGCs. I have plenty of Thai friends that sells deformed MGCs.

I wanna believe you. But where are the adults of normal MGC raised by hobbyists for many years already and shared on the net, YT, FB, IG, etc.? I don't see any evidence of this but I would like to see. There must be some hobbyists in all of Asia that can afford to raise MGC properly.

Short bodied MGC
View attachment 1433113

I have seen this photo before labeled short body paroon.

 

[MatteoTheEnder22]

Too be honest the only way the average hobbyist can tell the difference of a Mekong and other pangasids ( including all these weird morphs and mislabeled ids)
is by doing a dna test and even then their are the complications of it being wrong or that the place that you send DNA too doesn't even know the differences between is and other catfish. The only way at least I would be convince that a true Mekong giant catfish is in the U.S.A is if the iucn considers it not critically endangered or if fugupuff some how brings it into the U.S.A.

 

[vincentwugwg]

Per famous ichthyologist and catfish taxonomist Dr. Heok Hee Ng (aka Silurus on Planet Catfish) this is an Iridescent shark catfish, neither a hybrid, nor an MGC. This is back from 2013. Per:
http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=38667 (the OP photo is the same as this one; just the link is broken now)

Fantastic two-color orca-like IDS - a striking freak of nature!

http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=38667

www.monsterfishkeepers.com

Carnivore it does not appear to be. Per FishBase: A migratory species which occurs in medium to large-sized rivers. Feeds on detritus & algae on the bottom; feeds only on vegetation in the river but takes other food in captivity; little is known on its general pattern of life & migratory journeys for spawning.



Per above, you'd have to argue this with Dr. H. H Ng, who ID'ed it as IDS. Now, Silurus can be wrong sometimes (he doesn't have the luxury of too much time to help us out on Planet Catfish), but it is exceedingly rare. He is most usually right, 1000x more often than us mere mortals.



I don't believe I have ever seen any proof that the different looking pangasids weren't some hybrids, whether or not involving MGC, while we do know the fish farmers in SE Asia have been experimenting with hybridization of pangasids for decades.

Furthermore, I don't believe I have seen a compelling proof that any of the fish you are referring to were MGC. Just stating that they are, or stating that they are because they look different, doesn't prove they are MGC. In fact, it only poses a riddle without an answer.

I can and do compare the two. In my experience of raising large-growing catfish, I see no reason to believe the captivity growth rate should be sub par to the rate in the wild. On the opposite, when the fish are given ample space and good diet (and I am not talking about farm culls but wild caught fish), they can grow faster because of stable food source, no hostile seasons, no interruptions from the breeding season, overall higher year round temperature, etc.




I wanna believe you. But where are the adults of normal MGC raised by hobbyists for many years already and shared on the net, YT, FB, IG, etc.? I don't see any evidence of this but I would like to see. There must be some hobbyists in all of Asia that can afford to raise MGC properly.



I have seen this photo before labeled short body paroon.

i posted this picture.. it's not a paroon

 

[GiantFishKeeper101]

thebiggerthebetter : Per above, you'd have to argue this with Dr. H. H Ng, who ID'ed it as IDS. Now, Silurus can be wrong sometimes (he doesn't have the luxury of too much time to help us out on Planet Catfish), but it is exceedingly rare. He is most usually right, 1000x more often than us mere mortals.

GFK101: I agreed, he's the expert but not 100% correct & he's not the only experts. The piebald shark have been discussed before by Thai experts on fb, it is indeed a MGC. Since MGC are native to Thai, so I trust them. Even without experts' help, I saw these fish on daily basis on fb, from deformed short bodied to hauling a giant broodstock to catching a wild giant. Over time, you get the gist how to tell em apart, it's like me differentiate between Tor & Neolissochilus.

TBTB : I don't believe I have ever seen any proof that the different looking pangasids weren't some hybrids, whether or not involving MGC, while we do know the fish farmers in SE Asia have been experimenting with hybridization of pangasids for decades.

GFK101: Fish farms do experimenting on hybridisation between species but not MGC. Why? Fish food & entertainment purposes, hybrid will have unexpected results. The original have great growth, great size & demand for it are high. Why hybridising something that already perfect? You wanna make business, why risk it on a hybrid?

TBTB: Furthermore, I don't believe I have seen a compelling proof that any of the fish you are referring to were MGC. Just stating that they are, or stating that they are because they look different, doesn't prove they are MGC. In fact, it only poses a riddle without an answer.

GFK101: That's your opinion, I can't change your mind. I've experienced it first hand & through others, guided by the experts. But if you can't trust me, then you have trust issues. I've told you in my old post how to differentiate MGC, but if you still can't see the difference then I can't help you... or that's my fault on explaining things with bad english ?

TBTB: I can and do compare the two. In my experience of raising large-growing catfish, I see no reason to believe the captivity growth rate should be sub par to the rate in the wild. On the opposite, when the fish are given ample space and good diet (and I am not talking about farm culls but wild caught fish), they can grow faster because of stable food source, no hostile seasons, no interruptions from the breeding season, overall higher year round temperature, etc.

GFK101: Yes, but I'm talking about farm culls. There are no wild caught juvenile, they're on the brink of extinction. Even if you manage to find wild juveniles, they're farm product that have been released to the wild as part of conservation. It's like the Julien's Carp here, most of em are farm release. So yes, farm culls can have different growth rate & max size.

TBTB: I wanna believe you. But where are the adults of normal MGC raised by hobbyists for many years already and shared on the net, YT, FB, IG, etc.? I don't see any evidence of this but I would like to see. There must be some hobbyists in all of Asia that can afford to raise MGC properly.

GFK101: Have you considered it died or donated? Like here in Malaysia, all overgrown fish are sell to the fishing pond or thrown to local waters. I have no idea why the hobbyist doesn't show their fish anymore, I can't speak for them but most thai hobbyist that have enough space for a MGC have full grown specimen in their pond. You can search em on fb. Vik, please make a fb account, there's so much thing you're missing out on fb lol. Add me, I'll show you