PlanetCatfish.com

Are flathead cats available to hobbyist? It seems like no one wants to talk about them when asked on various forums.

I don't think they are commonly sold in the aquatics trade. This fish is suitable for a rather large pond, perhaps. It definitely would be difficult to keep indoors, as the fish can reach 5ft, which means a suitable home would be about 20 x 10 x 10 ft at the very least. Very few people have the necessary funds, skills and space to keep fish of this sort of size indoors. But it's a cool-water fish, so it will be fine to keep in a pond. Not sure where you'd get one in California, as they aren't native to your state.

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Mats

odd, that
it IS native to Mexico (!), so it can tolerate warmer water.

that doesnt mean that an individual caught from the Great lakes area can tolerate a tropical tank, but it does mean that as a species it's adaptable to a wide range of temperatures.

hence, it's not by definition a cool water fish.

accordingto fishbase (not faultless, but we gotta start somewhere) it can handle up to 33'C

it even has a Mexican name: Pintontle

what surprised me was that no less than 13 different species of Ictalurids are native or even endemic to Mexico......only 1 was introduced (not Pylodictis, but Ameiurus natalis)

Cat-eLog > Ictaluridae > Pylodictis > Pylodictis olivaris

If you are talking about the one above (as opposed say to RTC which is a phractocephalos, meaning literally "flat head" from Greek), then people in some PlanetCatfish forums are saying they are catching a lot of them in Washington State, which means they should be in Oregon State and perhaps in California.

It is of course native to Ohio River and Great Lakes too but I've never caught one in either Lake Erie or Lake Ontario or in the rivers that are connected to them, like Maumee River (Ohio) or Genesee River (NY state) or smallish creeks. There are probably not many of them there or I am not fishing where they are hanging out.

I've been wanting one myself, preferably a big adult, but I cannot find anybody who'd sell them!!?? Neither I can find anybody who'd sell me a big Wels. I cannot find a farm that'd raise them within a driving distance (are there any at all? don't know). I'd be willing to pay to anybody who'd catch one, again, within driving distance, say 4-7 h. I'd come and pick it up.

Alex, thanks. Very good to know.

Mats is right. They are rare, mildly put (based on my experience) and they get huge! So one needs to be committed to provide adequate housing to keep one in humane way.

Thanks for the info. I am looking for one to go in my pond.

MM