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Channel cat color


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#1 Guest_Moontanman_*

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Posted 19 August 2011 - 01:09 AM

Does anyone else notice how petshop channel cats are so dull in color and only a few spots? I used to catch 6 to 8 inch ones from the Kanawha River in WV and the fish were covered in speckles with blue and gold high lights on their bodies with sharply forked tails the the tails and fins were edged in black, spectacular fishes. I haven't seen any petshop channel cats nearly as colorful. I've heard the petshop channel cats are really hybrids of blue cats and channel cats, any truth to this?

#2 Guest_exasperatus2002_*

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Posted 19 August 2011 - 07:28 AM

Does anyone else notice how petshop channel cats are so dull in color and only a few spots? I used to catch 6 to 8 inch ones from the Kanawha River in WV and the fish were covered in speckles with blue and gold high lights on their bodies with sharply forked tails the the tails and fins were edged in black, spectacular fishes. I haven't seen any petshop channel cats nearly as colorful. I've heard the petshop channel cats are really hybrids of blue cats and channel cats, any truth to this?


I havent heard of that one myself. When I used to manage a lfs, the channels we had were text book channel cats.

#3 Guest_CATfishTONY_*

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Posted 19 August 2011 - 08:04 AM

Does anyone else notice how petshop channel cats are so dull in color and only a few spots? I used to catch 6 to 8 inch ones from the Kanawha River in WV and the fish were covered in speckles with blue and gold high lights on their bodies with sharply forked tails the the tails and fins were edged in black, spectacular fishes. I haven't seen any petshop channel cats nearly as colorful. I've heard the petshop channel cats are really hybrids of blue cats and channel cats, any truth to this?


i agree fish from the wild do have more color.plus of the 20000 or so fry i would say those with better camo patern would live the ones that are blue gray would stand out like a sore thumb.
and yes the fish in LFS are hybrid's and pure strain. look @ it this way one male lets say had a blue gray color with few spots was used as a sperm donor his gene's would be more wide spread in broodstock plus most of the offspring would make it to market. in the wild few YOY would make it.
here is a link from MSSTATE.
http://tcnwac.msstat...ridManual05.pdf

#4 Guest_Moontanman_*

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Posted 19 August 2011 - 08:55 AM

i agree fish from the wild do have more color.plus of the 20000 or so fry i would say those with better camo patern would live the ones that are blue gray would stand out like a sore thumb.
and yes the fish in LFS are hybrid's and pure strain. look @ it this way one male lets say had a blue gray color with few spots was used as a sperm donor his gene's would be more wide spread in broodstock plus most of the offspring would make it to market. in the wild few YOY would make it.
here is a link from MSSTATE.
http://tcnwac.msstat...ridManual05.pdf



Ok, I knew there had to be something wrong with the channel cats i have seen in pet stores. The hybrids have few to no spots but real channels (captive bred) still have few spots compared to wild fish at least in some populations. The wild channels I caught hand many dozens if not hundreds of spots and a beautiful black edged fins and gold and blue highlights. I even remember one pond in WV that had "golden channels" in it, they lacked the blue coloration almost completely are were golden, a very strong gleaming gold color (not albinos). Only place I ever seen them but i caught a couple dozen during a cicada out break in one day out of this pond. It looks like if I want the best colored channel cats I'm going to have to go to the wild. I wonder if the introduced channel cats here in NC are hybrids, do the hybrids reproduce or are they sterile? I may have to go back to the Kanawha River to catch the really pretty ones, lol

#5 Guest_Uland_*

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Posted 19 August 2011 - 10:03 AM

Color me skeptical on the thought that LFS catfish are hybridized blue/channel. I don't think they (LFS's) want hybrid vigor to begin with and think it's possible they might select fish without spots for sale rather than seeking expensive hybrids. I have caught quite a few young Channel catfish without spotting.

#6 Guest_Moontanman_*

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Posted 19 August 2011 - 10:33 AM

It's quite possible that the ones I remember were local populations and didn't represent the average channel cat, i know they did come from very polluted water back then (50 years ago) maybe that could have had something to do with it as well?

#7 Guest_pylodictis_*

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Posted 19 August 2011 - 12:56 PM

The ones I've seen in pet stores were albino or normal. I've seen them in the wild from light grey to jet black, usually the smaller fish having a lighter color and spots. I. punctatus is often observed in a large variety of colors.



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