Sometime around December I will have had my checkered madtom (Noturus flavater) for exactly 4 years. He is currently 7 inches long.
I was wondering if anyone has information on how long checkered madtoms live on average, or oldest recorded? I know these aren't commonly kept in aquaria, and I'm not finding much information about it. Also wondering if anyone has information on estimating their age based on size. He was 2.5 inches when we netted him. Not sure if he is a male or female, due to not knowing how to sex them (if anyone can point me toward that information, I would appreciate it also).
The only information I could really find was a bit from MOFWIS (Missouri Fish and Wildlife Information System):
"Some females mature at 1 year, most at 2-3 years and greater than70 mm"
"Adults commonly 4-6.7" long, to a maximum of 7.1"
But doesn't mention anything about lifespan, or average size at certain ages. I did see something in an article about them commonly spawning at 3-6 years old, but it didn't mention size at that age. When the information from MOFWIS says most females mature "at 2-3 years, and greater than 70mm," can I assume that 2-3 year old females are generally greater than 70mm? Or am I reading it wrong and there's no correlation? Because assuming that, if female, the fish would have probably been about 2-3 years old when I caught it, and therefore 6-7 years old in a few months.
I found a lot of lifespan information on other madtom species, but I really doubt that information is the same from species to species. There just doesn't seem to be much available information (online at least) for Noturus flavater.
Part of the reason I ask is he's starting to act a bit odd, and he doesn't want to eat nearly as much as he used to, and he's looking a bit underweight recently. Not quite as active as he used to be either. I'm an experienced fishkeeper and his tank is fully cycled and the parameters are normal (Nitrates below 40, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, etc), so I really doubt it's anything like that. Temperature is 74 now (No heater so I wouldn't be able to lower it without a chiller), and in the low 70s-high 60s in the winter. He's lived in the local tapwater (which is similar to the river he was caught from) for his whole life, and my tapwater stays fairly consistent. Doesn't get large water changes because he's in a 50g aquarium all by himself, so his environment stays pretty constant.
So should I assume he's just getting old, considering I netted him at 2.5 inches, have had him nearly 4 years, and he's 7 inches long? He has nothing visibly wrong with him (other than slightly skinnier due to not eating as much, but he is by no means emaciated). It's just his behavior that is worrying me.
Edited by ShadowBass, 09 August 2010 - 11:20 PM.
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