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Ok everyone!!! Did you know that pictus cats can makes sounds??? I was moving 2 pictus cats out of my house and into a friend's tank last night and when I caught one, he got stuck in the net. So as I was carefully cutting him out, he made this sound! It sounded like a whale/moan sound... at first I didn't pay any attention to it - thought it was my dogs acting stupid actually. But it kept making that sound! Then, when I got the two of them over to their new home, I was scooping him up to place him in his new tank and he made that sound again! And I know I'm not crazy b/c my friend heard it too! Has anyone ever heard a catfish do this? I know that they were both pretty stressed from the move, and the one even more so b/c he was stuck in the net, but WOW!

there are some catfish which make noises but not sure which ones

It just totally caught me off guard! I, until yesterday, have never heard a freshwater fish make sounds (or saltwater for that matter).

It was kind of freaky sounding... gave you a bit of a chill!

Many catfishes with reasonably well-developed spines make stridulatory noises by moving the base of the spines at very high speeds. The mechanism involved is usually a ridged process at the base of the spine rubbing against a groove in the girdle.
Doradomorph catfishes (auchenipterids, doradids, mochokids) are particularly good at this.

Why exactly do they do it?
What purpose does it serve?

My catfish made that sound both when he was stationary, and when he was swimming rapidly around the tank! I don't know why he was doing it - maybe stress? Whatever it was, it was eerie!

Why exactly do they do it?
What purpose does it serve?

The stridulation is largely an antipredator defense mechanism, but is sometimes used in interactions with conspecifics.

My S.Eupterus make sounds(chatter) when feeding on floating foods and especially when there out of water.

The stridulation is largely an antipredator defense mechanism

That's what you hear if you net a Syno, Dorad or Pimelodid for example.

but is sometimes used in interactions with conspecifics.

definitely! If you ever get Auchenipterids or Doradids, you can hear them grunting, buzzing and growling at night to each other, in the dark. They do this without a net in sight; definitely communicating. Banjo-cats do it too, but very softly, almost subsonic. If you touch one, it can give off a feeling of "buzzing"/vibrating without hearing anything.

Somethimes it can go on for hours; one end of the tank starts to emit the most disgusting farting noises, and then the other end repeats back with blubs, squeaks and buzzes....

quite fun actually.

Even small cats can make audible noises!
About a million years ago, I bought five tiny "Syno -relatives" (Mochokiella paynee), and I had a stop-over/sleepover at my parents' house, before travelling further the next day to my own home and fishtanks.
I put the tiny cats in a plastic tank with a mini-filter. At night suddenly the rotor started to grind against its' bearings, like a big, angry bumblebee against a window. On off on off, drove me nuts, kept me awake etc.
when checking with a flashlight, the filter was doing fine, no problems.

The little catfishes were fighting for the -too few- hideouts of PVCpipe! I knew Syno's buzzing/stridulating with their fins when being netted, but I DIDN'T know about those mini-Syno's using it as a communication to each other during disputes.
We're talking 4cm fish, and a fishowner with notoriously bad hearing here; it was quite loud......

Well they've seemed to settle down - no more noises anyway. Except one is refusing blood worms. It's been 2 days now. Do you think it's still stress? His buddy is very active and isn't having a problem feeding. I'm thinking about tempting him with baby guppies but I don't have any at the moment (I breed my own so I don't have to worry about lfs disease).

Any other pointers? I kept the light off for 24 hours with not a lot of movement in the room so they could get adjusted. It was a new tank but I filled it 3/4 full of their previous tank's water to jump start the cycling. I just don't want to lose this guy! He's the one that talks

Do you think it's still stress?

New introductions have been known to not start feeding until a week or two in the tank. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

[quote="Silurus
The stridulation is largely an antipredator defense mechanism, but is sometimes used in interactions with conspecifics.[/quote]

Excuse my lack of knowledge here, but in simple terms, What did you say?

The sound they make is used to deter predators and sometimes used in communicating with other members of the same species.