Wels catfish, albino, ~10"

[wednesday13]

thebiggerthebetter the chinese (meridonalis) only has 4 barbels. Easiest way to decipher between the chinese and the euro. Im only “versed” in those 2 species… not on paper lol… ive had the chinese from the fist cple US imports in 2016-2017 as “backup” … id compare them more to ur asotus than a euro. Not nearly as fun to keep as a euro. Mine does not tolerate tank mates even twice its size and its not personable at all during feeding.

 

[wednesday13]

question: why did wednesday13 wels get confiscated but yours still allowed?

Kicking a dead horse here … i live in Ohio… Vik is in florida. Out of 50 US states, only ohio put the euro wels on their “invasive list” and banned all possession even if u had one prior to the federal import ban. Federally mine was still legal to keep, it was made illegal by the state law tho which overrides federal law sadly. Every state can make their own laws that override any federal ones. If i did not live in ohio, id still be allowed to have my old one just the same. Federally you can still sell them within your state also.

 

[surfermike915]

The fish shown in the meridionalis thread that is currently active seems to show only four barbels; I have no idea if it is misidentified, or...?

But, oh my..."paper fish keepers' opinions"? That is delicious!

Yes I am the one running that thread. That is true. I’ve done extensive research into Silurus species, with the only one from my experience sporting 6 Barbels seeming to be Glanis. Even the other larger species like the Lake Biwa catfish (Silurus Biwaensis) and the Soldatov Catfish (Silurus Soldatovi) both have 4. The Chinese wels was definitely popularized as the Euro wels close cousin that can survive in a crate with a drop of water. Even people like Rodrigo marketed these guys for sure. Still one of my favorite fish. Just don’t expect this thing to turn into a 40 inch eating machine haha. Good work vik.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

I keep hearing from people on YT who think our true wels S. glanis is the chinese wels S. meridionalis and with some of them size argument doesn't work

According to the key I found, to prove the species ID vomerine tooth patches must be looked at, which I am not doing with our Mr. Wels. Perhaps it might be easier to wait until it grows to 6-8 feet.

This is kind of old too, from 1988 but seems to be the most recent genus revision cited on FishBase.

View attachment 1515529

Thank you Russ, Mike, and JJ. I can't believe I missed the barbel count so badly. I don't know why I thought all or most Silurus had 6 barbels and only asotus had 4. I had no idea almost all but glanis had 4!? (According to the ID key gilberti and wynaadensis also have 6 barbels, but their upper jaw is prominent, not lower jaw.) Which is why I dug up that ID key above to see how to tell glanis from meridionalis. But the barbel count is so unbelievably obvious versus the vomerine tooth patch comparison. Why is it then absent in the ID key?

 

[surfermike915]

That brings up a very good question. I do not know why, as it has been the way of identifying Silurus for a long time in the field of research. I’ve hear eye placement as well as length of dorsal and caudal fins but obviously unless you have specimens side by side to compare, this too is no more useful then the tooth patch method.

 

[wednesday13]

Thank you Russ, Mike, and JJ. I can't believe I missed the barbel count so badly. I don't know why I thought all or most Silurus had 6 barbels and only asotus had 4. I had no idea almost all but glanis had 4!? (According to the ID key gilberti and wynaadensis also have 6 barbels, but their upper jaw is prominent, not lower jaw.) Which is why I dug up that ID key above to see how to tell glanis from meridionalis. But the barbel count is so unbelievably obvious versus the vomerine tooth patch comparison. Why is it then absent in the ID key?

Maybe the tooth count is more “reliable” when deciphering between all of the species with 4 barbels. They are pretty hard to tell apart across the board 24” or under i.e. asotus, meridonalis, soldatovi, biwaensis, lithophilus, tomodai. I’ve often wondered if the “chinese” being offered are actually meridonalis due to there size . Not sure i could pick out the few listed from a juvi line up and theres many more.

 

[surfermike915]

Maybe the tooth count is more “reliable” when deciphering between all of the species with 4 barbels. They are pretty hard to tell apart across the board 24” or under i.e. asotus, meridonalis, soldatovi, biwaensis, lithophilus, tomodai. I’ve often wondered if the “chinese” being offered are actually meridonalis due to there size . Not sure i could pick out the few listed from a juvi line up and theres many more.

From what I understand at the young age and small size, they can be hard to tell apart. But meridonalis is probably more offered to us because of the fact they are more common internationally, especially in china. Patterning is probably the easiest way to tell though

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

I’ve often wondered if the “chinese” being offered are actually meridonalis due to there size .

That confounded me, Russ. It is not Chinese wels a common name for Silurus meridionalis?
EDIT: Oh I see, you meant it another way, that is, if the fish we get are actually "Chinese wels aka S. meridionalis" because of smaller than expected adult size? Is that how you meant this?

 

[wednesday13]

That confounded me, Russ. It is not Chinese wels a common name for Silurus meridionalis?
EDIT: Oh I see, you meant it another way, that is, if the fish we get are actually "Chinese wels aka S. meridionalis" because of smaller than expected adult size? Is that how you meant this?

Correct on the edit… i have wondered if the fish sold as chinese wels are infact Silurus Meridonalis or another silurus species due to the average sizes in captivity. Time will tell i suppose if anyone can grow one over 30” lol…

 

[Chub_by]

Just skimmed through this thread again and it's occurred that at ~4"-5' this must be one of the longest-documented growing -outs of a fish on mfk! Idk if that sentence makes any sense, but either way it's a testament to the dedication you not only put into keeping your animals, but also documenting the process! Hats off, Viktor.

Also, it seems that after Russ' bad luck, us two are the only ones left here that have Wels cats (unless someone is keeping that info to themselves). Or do you happen to know of others?