Surely not I hear you say. Yes a new species caught on the 1st
April 2001.
Thanks to Al Ngui at Allen@fishaholics.net
for the first pictures of this new species :-)
Did you know!
A Mr.van Cartland whilst fishing at thethe Okla weir
a few miles below Delhi caught a Bagarius yarrellii that
was 5 feet long and weighed 136lbs, in the year 1875.
During June 1933 Mr.F.G.Sounter caught a Wallago leerii
that weighed 102lbs.was 5 foot 6 inches long and 43 inches at
its greatest girth. It was caught in Perak. The head of the fish
is now preserved at the museum in Kuala Lumpur.
A silver Citizen watch telling
the right time was returned to Sally Serridge, 34, of Southampton,
when a 2ft catfish regurgitated it two weeks after swallowing
the timepiece which fell into a tank at Marwell Zoo, near Winchester,
Hampshire. Reference: Sunday Telegraph, March 4, 2001.
That in May each year the Pla Buek migrates up the Mekong
River to reach its spawning grounds in China.
On the Laos/Thailand border of the river the fisherman gather
to catch this catfish which can grow to 3 metres and weighs up
to 300kg. If caught it can feed a Thai family on fish for a full
year!
That the members of the genus
Clarias have stiffened gill filaments to prevent collapse
of their lamellae when the fish is on dry land.
Oh
what a crime! notice the Corydoras robinae in the mouth
of the Geophagus, I bet it couldn't swallow it though!.
Picture taken at Pier Aquatics, Wigan.
Photo Credit: Helen Burns
Did you know!
That the electric catfish ( Malapterurus electricus)
can deliver a powerful shock of up to 350 volts - at times enough
to stun a man. The shocks are produced principally in self-defence. Reference: Cacutt, Len. Nature Fact Fishes.
The largest recorded specimen
of the European wels (Silurus glanis) was 5m (16ft 5in)
and weighed 306kg (675lb) Reference:Cacutt, Len. Nature Fact Fishes.
Catfishes have a link of tiny bones that transmit vibrations picked
up by the swimbladder to the inner ear, effectively boosting their
hearing power. Reference:Cacutt, Len. Nature Fact Fishes.
1994 -- In September, The Economist magazine reported that Japan's
meteorology agency had recently completed a seven-year study to
ascertain the validity of the Japanese legend that earthquakes
are caused by catfish wiggling their tails. After trying to match
catfish tail-wagging with a number of small earthquakes, the agency
abandoned the study, refusing to confirm or criticize the legend.
Ouch! Truth or Fiction
Penis-biting fish go
wild as men pee in river
July 09 2001 at 09:09AM
Port Moresby - Two Papua New
Guinea fishermen bled to death after their penises were bitten
off by pirahna-like river fish that pursue their prey by following
urine trails in the water, police said.
The two men died in separate
attacks several days apart on the Sepic River in Papua New Guinea's
jungled northwest last month, but police say they have just confirmed
the horrific rumours which have struck terror into the local communities.
In both incidents, the fish
demonstrated a trait of the piranha by following the urine trail
in the water, swimming to its source and then biting it off with
their razor-sharp teeth.
Marine biologist Ian Middleton
said he believed the fish had been introduced from across the
PNG-Indonesia border.
"The killer fish have
the most human-like teeth on the bottom jaw I have ever seen and
quite possibly feed on insects," he told Australian Associated
Press.
Middleton said he believed
the killer fish had started biting humans because of a lack of
naturally occurring food.
"The reason for biting
people on their genitals I believe is a result of the fish detecting
a chemical change in the water, swimming up the urine trail and
biting the genitals." - Sapa-AFP Reference:
Independent Online
A
Fishy Tale
A visitor to Marwell Zoo in
Hampshire, England saw his beloved phone eaten by a catfish after
he lost his grip on the handset. The four foot fish gulped it down
and then had its stomach massaged by zookeepers to cough it up.
Unbelievably the same fish had done it before with another phone.
Reference:Scottish Daily Record; March 19th 2004.
BILLY’S TALE IS A BIT
FISHY
A FLOOD-HIT football club finally
have something to cheer after making an unexpected signing-Billy
the Fish. Carlisle United’s, Brunton Park was deluged
by eight feet of water when the river Eden burst its banks
last weekend. And when the pitch was drained, staff found
a pet gold-fish swimming in the goal mouth. The only explanation
anyone can give is that he was washed out of his tank or his
pond when homes on neighbouring Warwick Road were flooded.
Billy, named after the cartoon keeper in Viz comic, must have
been swept through the stadium gates and on to the pitch.
Emma Storey, 23, daughter of Carlisle Chairman, Fred, scooped
him in a bucket. Emma said “I couldn’t’
believe it, I’m surprised he survived”
Now she wants to reunite him with his owner. Reference:Scottish Daily Record; Jan.15th 2005.
Did you know!
That Doctors in ancient Egypt used shocks from the Electric Catfish
to reduce the pain of arthritis.
Did you know!
The common name of the Firewood Catfish, Sorubimichthys
planiceps,stems from the fact that
when it is caught it has no food value and so it is dried
for firewood instead.
This is a page set aside for any light stuff that makes you smile.If
you would like to submit any story, poem, anecdotes on the smiley
page please e-mail
me. Credit for your work will of course be given. Come
on make us smile :-) or grimice :-(
Oh
what a crime! notice the Corydoras robinae in the mouth
of the Geophagus, I bet it couldn't swallow it though!.
