Do Honeycomb Catfish Squeak?
-
- Posts: 4
- Joined: 18 Jan 2017, 02:05
- My cats species list: 1 (i:1, k:0)
- My BLogs: 1 (i:0, p:48)
- Location 1: Los Angeles
- Location 2: USA
Do Honeycomb Catfish Squeak?
I have eleven honeycomb catfish in a 40 gallon breeder that sits by my bed. Lately, at night, I've been hearing odd grunting noises coming from the tank. At first, I thought that maybe they were scraping their fins against the acrylic, but I looked in the tank last night during one of the sounds, and two of my males were having a spat nowhere near the sides of the aquarium. Has anyone else experienced this? The sound is similar to that of talking catfish, albeit quieter, but I can't seem to find any info on them doing it.
- bekateen
- Posts: 9009
- Joined: 09 Sep 2014, 17:50
- I've donated: $40.00!
- My articles: 4
- My images: 130
- My cats species list: 142 (i:102, k:39)
- My aquaria list: 36 (i:13)
- My BLogs: 44 (i:149, p:2674)
- My Wishlist: 35
- Spotted: 177
- Location 1: USA, California, Stockton
- Location 2: USA, California, Stockton
- Contact:
Re: Do Honeycomb Catfish Squeak?
Perhaps you're hearing the sounds of pectoral fins scraping/clicking?
Find me on YouTube and Facebook: http://youtube.com/user/Bekateen1; https://www.facebook.com/Bekateen
Buying caves from https://plecocaves.com? Plecocaves sponsor Bekateen's Fishroom. Use coupon code "bekateen" (no quotes) for 15% off your order.
-
- Posts: 4
- Joined: 18 Jan 2017, 02:05
- My cats species list: 1 (i:1, k:0)
- My BLogs: 1 (i:0, p:48)
- Location 1: Los Angeles
- Location 2: USA
Re: Do Honeycomb Catfish Squeak?
I thought it might be fins scraping, but the moment I caught them making the sound, they were in a T position (one had the other's fin in its mouth). It's not really a click sound. It's more like an "enh, enh" sound (apologies for the less than scientific onomatopoeia).
- Lycosid
- Posts: 191
- Joined: 20 Aug 2016, 21:18
- My cats species list: 7 (i:0, k:2)
- Spotted: 4
- Location 1: United States
- Location 2: North Carolina
Re: Do Honeycomb Catfish Squeak?
Many catfish do appear to be capable of producing swim-bladder noises as well as pectoral fin noises. The pectoral fin noises can include stridulation where a bone is rubbed across a series of ridges or bumps on another bone. This is the same way crickets and cicadas produce noises. Neither of those sound much like a click and they also don't sound much like each other, suggesting that stridulation can give you a pretty big range of noises. I would guess that the "enh" is stridulatory, and if it's involved in antagonistic interactions it may be a threat sound, a way of saying, "Hey, listen to how deep this noise is - I've got enormous pectoral spines." If it were swim-bladder produced I'd expect it to sound more like a drum or other air-filled object being vibrated.
- panaque
- Posts: 430
- Joined: 28 Oct 2004, 11:50
- My images: 7
- My cats species list: 11 (i:0, k:0)
- My BLogs: 3 (i:0, p:24)
- Spotted: 3
- Location 1: Cornwall, United Kingdom
- Location 2: Cornwall, United Kingdom
Re: Do Honeycomb Catfish Squeak?
Yes I've noticed this too. When you shine a torch into a female's cave to check on a brood they often make that sound.