[vmfa] Re: Wels catfish
- From: "Kevin Frankeberger" <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> (Redacted sender "k_frankeberger@xxxxxxxxx" for DMARC)
- To: "vmfa@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <vmfa@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 28 Feb 2015 02:53:43 +0000 (UTC)
Thanks Ron for the continuing education per the wels catfish.
In your posting, this was stated, "Exceptionally large specimens are rumored to
attack humans in rare instances, a claim investigated by extreme angler Jeremy
Wade in an episode of the Animal Planet television series River Monsters
following his capture of three fish, two of about 145 lb and one of about 160
lb, of which two attempted to attack him following their release."
That is the host and show I tried to mention earlier in one of my posts. In
our neck of the woods, "River Monster" is shown on Comcast channel 43 usually
about 2 a.m. but the schedule changes. Of course, you can find it in your own
locale.
Best, Kevin
From: Dr. Ronald E. Milliman]\\` <rmilliman@xxxxxxx>
To: vmfa@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Friday, February 27, 2015 6:17 PM
Subject: [vmfa] Re: Wels catfish
#yiv2786824575 #yiv2786824575 -- _filtered #yiv2786824575 {panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4
6 3 2 4;} _filtered #yiv2786824575 {font-family:Calibri;panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4
3 2 4;}#yiv2786824575 #yiv2786824575 p.yiv2786824575MsoNormal, #yiv2786824575
li.yiv2786824575MsoNormal, #yiv2786824575 div.yiv2786824575MsoNormal
{margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;font-size:12.0pt;}#yiv2786824575 a:link,
#yiv2786824575 span.yiv2786824575MsoHyperlink
{color:blue;text-decoration:underline;}#yiv2786824575 a:visited, #yiv2786824575
span.yiv2786824575MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{color:purple;text-decoration:underline;}#yiv2786824575
span.yiv2786824575EmailStyle17 {color:#1F497D;}#yiv2786824575
.yiv2786824575MsoChpDefault {font-size:10.0pt;} _filtered #yiv2786824575
{margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}#yiv2786824575 div.yiv2786824575WordSection1
{}#yiv2786824575 My cursory research on the Wels Catfish reveals that it is
found in Europe, but it is not in North America. Here is some information I
found: The Wels Catfish is native to wide areas of central, southern, and
eastern Europe, and near the Baltic and Caspian Seas. It has been introduced to
Western Europe and is now found from the United Kingdom all the way east to
Kazakhstan and south to Greece. It is a scaleless fresh and brackish water fish
recognizable by its broad, flat head and wide mouth. Wels catfish can live for
at least thirty years and have very good hearing. The wels catfish lives on
annelid worms, gastropods, insects, crustaceans, and fish including other
catfishes; the larger ones also eat frogs, mice, rats, and aquatic birds such
as ducks. Recently, individuals of this species in environments that are not
their native habitats have been observed lunging out of the water to grab
pigeons on land. With a possible total length up to 13 ft and a maximum weight
of over 880 lb it is the second largest freshwater fish in its region after the
beluga sturgeon. However, such lengths are extremely rare and could not be
proved during the last century, but there is a somewhat credible report from
the 19th century of a wels catfish of this size. Most wels catfish are only
about 4 ft – 5 ft long; fish longer than 6 1/2 ft are normally extremely rare.
At 5 ft they can weigh over 35 lb and at 7 ft, they can weigh 143 lb. Only
under exceptionally good living circumstances can the wels catfish reach
lengths of more than 6 1/2 ft, as with the record wels catfish of Kiebingen
(near Rottenburg, Germany), which was a little over 8 ft long and weighed 196
lb. This giant was surpassed by some even larger specimens from Poland,
Ukraine, France, Spain (in the River Ebro), Italy (in the Po River and Arno
River), and Greece, where this fish was released a few decades ago. Greek wels
grow well thanks to the mild climate, lack of competition, and good food
supply. Exceptionally large specimens are rumored to attack humans in rare
instances, a claim investigated by extreme angler Jeremy Wade in an episode of
the Animal Planet television series River Monsters following his capture of
three fish, two of about 145 lb and one of about 160 lb, of which two attempted
to attack him following their release. A report in the Austrian newspaper Der
Standard on 5 August 2009, mentions a wels catfish dragging a fisherman near
Győr, Hungary, under water by his right leg after the man attempted to grab the
fish in a hold. The man barely escaped with his life from the fish, which must
have weighed over 220 lb, according to the fisherman. Edited from:Wels catfish
– Wikipediahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wels_catfish#Size
Other related posts:
