3 replies to this topic

[Sean Phillips]

My Yellow Bullhead has been like this for a while and he's eating and breathing just fine but I'm curious as to whether this is gill curl or not? It looks like a small black flap going from the top to bottom of the gill that just barely covers the very base of his pectoral spines. My three juvenile 2.25" yellows do not have this flap. I apologize for the bad pictures. I posted this in MFK as well but nobody can really give me a straight answer and I figure those who are into catfish on this site are probably mostly focused on Ictalurids. I've been skimming google images in and off all day for bullhead pictures as well at looking at old fishing pictures of mine and it seems that about 50% of bullheads have this "flap" protruding to the base of their pectoral spines while 50% do not and since my young bullheads don't have it I'm wondering whether it's a health thing or if just some bullheads have it and some don't. If it is gill curl them how should I treat it, otherwise does anyone know what it is?

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[Sean Phillips]

Here's another two Ictalurids I found pictures of among several others with this trait. The first is a channel cat and the second appears to be a White Bullhead. Whether this still makes it normal or not is unknown by me however multiple pictures of Ictaluridae species seem to have this while many don't posses it as well, I think possibly it's just something that some catfish have and others don't.

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[gerald]

Many fish have a membranous flap on the edge of the operculum that helps seal off this opening when the fish is inhaling through its mouth. It makes breathing more efficient by keeping the water flow going one-way, especially for fish that spend a lot of time lying or hovering in one spot. The length of the flap might change with age, or simply be related to body shape. For example, maybe males (with wider heads) need a longer flap to properly seal off the rear opening? Do you notice any correlation between head width (relative to body width behind the head) and flap length?

[Sean Phillips]

Many fish have a membranous flap on the edge of the operculum that helps seal off this opening when the fish is inhaling through its mouth. It makes breathing more efficient by keeping the water flow going one-way, especially for fish that spend a lot of time lying or hovering in one spot. The length of the flap might change with age, or simply be related to body shape. For example, maybe males (with wider heads) need a longer flap to properly seal off the rear opening? Do you notice any correlation between head width (relative to body width behind the head) and flap length?

Interesting, that'sa very good adaptation to save energy during respiration, I never even would have thought that's what it could be, which it probably is if so many Ictalurids posses this feature. His head is roughly 1.5"-1.65" wide where the flap is and the flap is about 0.15"-0.2" side to side.