PlanetCatfish.com

Got run off the lake by high wind before we had a chance to net a big boy, but they were there. These two that we did get were on the small size so no real effort was made to get a good measurement.


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August issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine has an article about the pleco problem in a river north of San Antonio. Sounds like they are going to try to do something about it up there.

http://tpwmagazine.com/archive/2006/aug/scout1/



I did pick-up a nice sized redfish on this trip (38", 21 lb. 12 oz) before the wind picked up.

neat trick to put the measure next to the pleco!
hard proof that these beasties do reach impressive sizes.

now they can put a size in the catelog on these monsters

It's about 12.5" SL, about 16" TL. That's big but hardly stunningly so... Fishbase lists 42 cm (17"!) SL as maximum size for L. pardalis, and Planetcatfish 11.8" SL.
I'd say 12.5" is completely within the realm of possibility even if Planetcatfishs 11.8" SL is correct in L. pardalis' home waters.

Then there's the probability that the fish is really the very similar-but-larger species L. disjunctivus (or even L. anisitsi).

Nice photos, Mac!! Thank you.
Amanda

Yeah, now this IS what we wanted.

I've put the SL of up to 350mm SL (I'd say the one in the picture is about 305-315 SL), but I am looking at the two pictures above of similarly sized fish and seeing very different colouration - maybe belly coloration is important too. Let's see if bigger ones are forthcoming.

Anyone care to translate what Ingo says about L. disjunctivus in Wels Atlas Band 2? It does mention the two species.

Jools

Hey Jools,

I´ll try a translation. Though I only translate what Seidel/Evers call "Specialties", since we´re not concerned about Location and Keeping advices, I believe..

Bes.: Während Jungfische sehr stark an L. Pardalis erinnern, ist zumindest bei semiadulten Exemplaren eine sichere Bestimmung einfach. Keine andere Liposarcus-Art besitzt nämlich auf der Bauchseite ein Muster aus gewundenen schwarzen Linien. Und auch die Oberkörperzeichnung ist ziemlich eindeutig. Auf dem Kopf zeigen die Tiere wie L. Pardalis ein feines Wurmlinienmuster. Dahinter folgt dann allerdings ein Muster aus dunklen vertikalen Linien, die entlang der Ränder der Knochenplatten angeordnet sind. Auf der Brust- und Bauchflossenverlaufen schwarze Linien entlang der Strahlen. Der oberste Schwanzflossenstrahl ist verlängert und schwarz und wei� geringelt.

from: I. Seidel, H.-G. Evers, Mergus WelsAtlas 2, 1. Auflage, 2005, Mergus Verlag GmbH, Melle.

Now for the (free) translation (by myself ):

Specialties: While young fish resemble L. Pardalis very much, at least with semiadult fishes a fairly certain Identification is rather easy. No other Liposarcus-species has an underside marked with wound, black lines. Also, the body coloration is fairly typical. The head is, like L. Pardalis, marked with fine, wormlike lines. But in L. Disjunctivus, this is then followed by dark, vertical lines along the margins of the bone plates. The paired fins show black lines following the fin rays. The first ray of the caudal fin is lengthened and carries black/white rings.

Hope, that helps,

Greetings, Sandor

Hmmm............ Well, at least Calaveras fish #2 fits that description perfectly. So do, if I'm any judge, several (but not all, e.g. not photo #19] of the fish in the photos in the CatElog entry for L. pardalis.

Anyone have a picture of the ventral side of a 100% securely ID'd L. pardalis?

Interesting pdf about introduced Liposarcus disjunctivus and Liposarcus pardalis

pdf





-Liposarcus pardalis: spotted ventral pattern, (10-13 dorsal rays, but usually 12)
-L. disjunctivus: vermiculated ventral pattern, (10-13 dorsal rays, but usually 11)

What did you do with them after you caught them Mac?
I live just south of SA, I'm sad to see these doing so well around here.

Jools, working on better pics and bigger pleco for ya'll.

texasgirl005, not good for bait or to eat so we let them go.

MacAAA wrote:not good for bait or to eat so we let them go.

Actually, I have heard the opposite. It took me a while to find, but check out this thread.

OK, maybe good to eat but I'm not ready to try it just yet.

I stick by what I said about them being no good for bait.

Wish I had a pond full of these; I'd fireup the BBQ in a sec.

they're good eating and to peel grilled plecs is a bit like eating lobster, but less legs and all.

you can compare it with eating Hoplo's; another great chow, although a bit small. more a delicacy than a belly full of grub.

I still have to eat big Pims and Dorads though; next time I haul my ass off to the jungle, I'll try those.

what did u use as bait? algea waffer? no really what

redzebra24 wrote:what did u use as bait? algea waffer? no really what

They are caught in nets when fishing for bait-fish - check out the other thread started by the same poster...

--
Mats

Try zucchini.... There's a photo of Liposarcus pardalis in the fish markets in the Mergus Band 2. Common food fish?
Amanda