Did you know fantastic help is an anagram of Planet Catfish? This forum is for those of you with pictures of your catfish who are looking for help identifying them. There are many here to help and a firm ID is the first step towards keeping your catfish in the best conditions.
The locals call all catfish barbels. This attrocity ocurred in the South Luangwa National Park, Zambia. Any ideas as to which species this is? The Yellow-billed Storks caught about 100 of these in a drying pool. They were about 10 to 12 inches long (25 cm +). I wish I could have brought several live ones home with me.
Silurus is a little bit too fast for me, I came up with the same answer [probably because I had to figure out which one of the Clarias spp. that was common in Africa, rather than just going straight for the right one...]
As to bringing these into the US, I wouldn't recommend it. They are escape artists (they can WALK between waters), and wouldn't be a good addition to the local fish-fauna - they tend to eat all other fish...
Wow, they get big! And they have a very wide distribution. Thanks for the I.D. There were also pelicans and fish eagles feeding on these. It was quite a sight to see.
"My journey is at an end and the tale is told. The reader who has followed so faithfully and so far, they have the right to ask, what do I bring back? It can be summed up in three words. Concentrate upon Uganda."
Winston Churchill, My African Journey