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Just checked the breeding setup of my Lophiobagrus brevispinis......

the female's left the breeding cave, but neither wants to eat for days;
I've found the clue, by using a tiny torchlight: babies!!!!!!!

pix coming up as soon as I dare to "disturb" dad Lophio

Sid

nobody interested?/

let's add some fresh pix then;


another one:


I removed the parents today, and the young left the PVCpipe to assemble in one of the corners. They have been colored for three days now; before that they were white balls with tails, almost exactly like tadpoles.

If you look close, you can still see that the anal, adipose and caudal fin still are one, just like a madtoms'.

these things are tiny! what looks like gravel is finest sieved riversand; the fry are 8-9 mm or so....

Sid

wow they sure are cute lovely pic. got a pic of the parents?

susie

Cool! Can you email me some big pics for the cat-elog - and perhaps some information on the event? This is a big deal - are there other captive spawning accounts for this species?

Jools

OK!

I just checked the catelog.....thanx!

currently I have two pix that are clear -see post- but in the next few days, I'll take some more and Email 'em with a "breeding record"

The parents (esp dad) and babies aren't exactly happy with my disturbing the nest and separating them, but I definitely wanted to raise some fry. I fed them some microworms, and tomorrow they get live artemia. (they still have round bellies now). The next nest I let them do the whole sequence to see what happens.

Sid

ps I haven't got a clue if this species has been bred before, but it's likely. It gets imported in fair numbers but as "cyclurus", wich it isn't. Probably if someone else has been breeding it, it could be under the assumption they're cyclurus.
I bought mine as such.

Oh, btw! I got three juvenile cyclurus last thursday in a German LFS (2 males, 1 female) to add to my single female cyclurus; to set up a breeding group of that species too.

Now the only "wishfish" left on the list is Chrysichthys sianenna

and breeding the Phyllonemus of course.

susie wrote:wow they sure are cute lovely pic. got a pic of the parents?

susie

Just uploaded pictures - check out the cat-elog updates page.

Jools

Lophiobagrus brevispinis is misspelled (with two n's) in the Cat-eLog...

Silurus wrote:Lophiobagrus brevispinis is misspelled (with two n's) in the Cat-eLog...

Noted, it'll be corrected in the next upload.

Jools

update:
despite some stiffs, the greater number's still going strong and growing.

some intel:
-they refuse to eat anything not alive -yet- I had a few of them dying on me, due to the artemia hatchery acting up. And feeding them with alternative food didn't do much good.
They seem to like microworms (they react to them) but that doesn't fill their bellies. It's quite polluting too, so I use it only as a treat.

With a big portion live babybrine in the evening (feeding during the daytimew doesn't work either! They prefer to starve in a tank full of food, before coming out.

Here's another pic, taken today.

I know it ain't exactly Pulitzer material, but neither am I...
It's more praying, than aiming and shooting....

Nice! Just curious, did you see any parental care?

Rusty

oh, yes.

but you need to remember (it's on the top) that I broke the parental care off, when separating the babies from their parents, because I wanted to raise this batch.

The next batch will be left in the parents care to see what happens if I don't disturb it, and leave the parents to do it, the whole way.

a few example's:
every time there was -or when it looked like- a batch of eggs/fry; both parents would build up sand to narrow the entrance.

the male would lie near the entrance and block both female and fry from view.

most obvious: the parent or parents who stick to the young or eggs don't eat! I suspected a nest, once they wouldn't come out for favourite food.....

when confronted with a penlight, he would "wave" his body; very efficiently blocking the beam!! I could only see the babies, once the female broke off the care "escaped" the nest, and left the male to solely do it.
It was also fairly obvious he would "push" wandering fry back to the heap.

This "heaping" behaviour of the fry is still continuing to this day. They behave almost exactly like a resting batch of young Plotosus. They will form a "ball" and make an excavation in the sand by simultaniously "wriggle", like tadpoles.
At night they spread out and feed, to return to a single location during the day.....despite the presence of several shells and flat caves! They COULD spread out, but they don't. They have an uncanny knack for finding each other too.

radically different from other catfishfry that's a few weeks old. Baby Syno's do it, but it gradually disappears when they're a few weeks old. Baby Bristlenoses stop doing it as soon as they leave the nest, baby Callichthydae shoal but don't form "balls".

Ictaluriid fry form tight balls during the day, particularly in response to predators. You can often spot them in clear water ponds/lakes in the spring here.

As newly free swimming fry they are guarded in the nest by the male, soon after (20mm) they are a moving ball of fry often accompanied by the male.
Some time after that when the fry are larger (even up to 50mm), they continue to ball-up in response to predators, but range further and further afield. The ball seems to break up more out of attrition (both to predation and scattering) than anything else.

Congrats' on the spawn, I look forward to your breeding account and the one ot follow!

Sincerely,
Paul E. Turley

Congratulations Sid, thought I would come over to your side of the world to learn a few things.

You mean there's another side?!? People who keep fish other than catfish?? Poor souls.

You will find redemption here.

Dinyar
(who has also occasionally c*nne*)

Hi Dinyar, if that's your opinion, I suggest you ship your Ctenochromis horei, Calvus and the other noncats in your tank to me ASAP!

And be grateful to me saving your sorry anal fin from the temptations of the Tang Side...


btw the babies are fine, but that @#$@@%@#!!1$%^#?!??!!!$^@#^@#!!*****$^%$%& PC craps on me again....

already re-installed the whole software including drivers twice, but it completely burns down/jams whenever I try to upload the pics....
In the last two months I already blew up the flopdrive, the mainboard (!!) and had to get new memory as well...those M!F!B!S! changed the number of pins to 184..


So I got loads of pix for you all, including my new juvenile cyclurus and two female P typus, and ANOTHER baby petricola (where do they come from? spontaneous generation?? I removed the breeding group months ago....)
BUT


Bring me the head of Bill Gates
Sid

"Sid", Yes, I too have cinned (note the resemblance to cichlid). But when it comes to PCs, though I also stray over to the dark side here, I'll choose righteousness over evil with pleasure every time. Want viruses, want to waste your life wrestling with buggy software, etc., as you have? Repent and buy a Mac, and maybe your soul and Lophio baby pix can still be saved!

Dinyar

Sid,
Congrats on the spawn. I'll look around and see what I can find on raising the fry. I am very envious that you guys can get these interesting fish!
-Shane
PS Why would anyone buy a MacInTrash?

here's an update:

feeding frenzy!


here you can see the "fishball" behaviour, where they wriggle an excavation in the sand and stick together.


up close....
the last pic was an exercise in patience and fumbling with the cam, not to mention sheer luck and lots of tweaking!

Sid

Very cool, Sid. Would be wonderful to read a short spawning report by you on this.

Dinyar

Dinyar wrote:Very cool, Sid. Would be wonderful to read a short spawning report by you on this.

Actually, could I go a little step further and ask if you would be willing to write a guest catfish of the month? It's been a while since it's been of an African flavour and these are great pictures and I am sure you have a lot to tell?

I (or Clare) can edit it as necessary.

What does everyone think?

Jools

Sounds like a great idea to me. I'm sure we could all learn from Sid's experience with these fish. Be glad to help out in a secondary role with photos or whatever.

Dinyar

OK I'm in.
hammering away on the old "Dark Sided BG Trasheap" already.

I'll send you the story first, Jools, and then a truckload of pix, that I'll tweak as little as possible, so you'll be free to cut, paste and whatever it is that should be done to pix.

Or should I bake and cook up the pix 'till they're exactly as I'd like 'em to be?

btw I'll mail it in SEPARATE mails, because otherwise my mailbox won't co-operate....those pix are HUGE.

Dinyar, shall I send YOU the pix, so those won't have to be re-routed through Jools' PC?


and they're nesting again....they're really getting into it!

Probably best send 'em huge and I'll manipulate them. Let me know if certain pics are included to show certain features and I will ensure they do.

This could be the Christmas or New Year CotM...

Jools

Hi Jools, Dinyar and others interested;
article is taking shape; and here are some updates on the fish themselves:

Male lophiobagrus brevispinis in his nesting cave


the nest is sharp, the male isn't, BUT if you look hard, you see the white eggs in the lower right 'edge' of the nest. The eggs started to hatch (tails appeared) today!

and to compare;

Lophiobagrus brevispinis fry from the second batch.

Current eggs above are the third, the fry from the first batch is already in the cat-e-log.

Hey SG

You look like the person I need to brain pick from. I just came home with some P. Typus, L. Cyclurus and another cat I believe is Chrysichthys Brachynema or C. Stappersi (the nose looks to long for C. Sienenna). My my old Blue TFH Atlas doesn't give a good description or pic.
What would be your words of wisdom.

Thanks T

and another cat I believe is Chrysichthys Brachynema or C. Stappersi

Look at the maxillary barbels. They are slightly shorter than the head in C. brachynema and much longer than the head in C. stappersii. If you can, look at the serrations on the pectoral spine. They are moderately large in C. brachynema and small C. stappersii.
Pics to better show what I'm talking about:

C. brachynema


C. stappersii:

Thanks for the help the last catfish is C. Brachynema.
Wonder if anyone has played with this small cat or should I start looking for a home for them.

Chrysichthys brachynema is not a small catfish.....

AFAIK it reaches 2 feet or so!

Could someone help me out?
What is AFAIK? I assume its a Journal of some kind. Is this the Catfish Bible?
Thank for any help
Oreo T

AFAIK=As far as I know