Thorny catfishes produce stridulation (SR) sounds using their pectoral fins and drumming (DR) sounds via a swimbladder mechanism in distress situations when hand held in water and in air. It has been argued that SR and DR sounds are aimed at different receivers (predators) in different media. The aim of this study was to analyse and compare sounds emitted in both air and water in order to test ...

The mucosal surfaces of fish serve as the first line of defense against the myriad of aquatic pathogens present in the aquatic environment. The immune repertoire functioning at these interfaces is still poorly understood. The skin, in particular, must process signals from several fronts, sensing and integrating environmental, nutritional, social, and health cues. Pathogen invasion can disrupt t...

To optimize the extraction of gelatin from channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) skin, a 2-step response surface methodology involving a central composite design was adopted for the extraction process. After screening experiments, concentration of NaOH, alkaline pretreatment time, concentration of acetic acid, and extraction temperature were selected as the independent variables. In the 1st ste...

The spontaneous discharge of impulses from the lateral-line nerves of trout and catfish has been examined. 1. Broken endings of nerve fibers supplying receptors of the lateral-lines of trout and catfish may be the source of a repetitive discharge of nerve impulses. 2. This injury discharge occurs more frequently in trout and may mask the spontaneous discharge from the receptor cells. Experiment...

A new species of the banjo catfish genus Amaralia is described from the Paraná-Paraguay River Basin in central-western Brazil, Paraguay and northern Argentina. Amaralia oviraptor is distinguished from its single and allopatric congener, Amaralia hypsiura, by the greater number of dorsal-fin rays (3 vs. 2); by the absence of lateral contact between middle and posterior nuchal plates (vs. middle ...

1. Effects of endosulfan, malathion and carbaryl on circulating T4, T3 and T3/T4 ratio in the freshwater catfish, C. batrachus have been studied during reproductively active phases, i.e. vitellogenic and post-vitellogenic phases of its annual reproductive cycle. 2. Endosulfan provoked a significant increase in T4 and a decrease in T3 as well as the T3/T4 ratio. 3. Malathion decreased T3 and T3/...

A seasonal study of the parasites of fish in the Hartbeespoort Dam was undertaken in 1979. This paper deals with 4 nematode species recovered from catfish, namely, Paracamallanus cyathopharynx (Baylis, 1923), Procamallanus laeviconchus (Wedl, 1862), Contracaecum sp. and Skrjabinocara sp. Total numbers of parasites recovered are tabulated and their seasonal variation illustrated diagrammatically...

This study is focused on developing software tools for the analysis of fish population size distributions, focusing initially on commercial catfish operations in the southeastern United States but generalizable to other types of operations and locations. Progress has been made in two primary areas: 1) modeling size distributions and their dynamics through time related to biological and manageme...

We measured unidirectional ion fluxes of fish collected directly from the Rio Negro, an extremely dilute, acidic blackwater tributary of the Amazon. Kinetic analysis of Na(+) uptake revealed that most species had fairly similar J(max) values, ranging from 1,150 to 1,750 nmol g(-1) h(-1), while K(m) values varied to a greater extent. Three species had K(m) values <33 micromol L(-1), while the re...

The present study investigated effects of environmental relevant concentrations of 4-nonylphenol (0.05 to 0.08 to 0.1 mg/l) on the reproduction and embryonic developmental stages of catfish (Clarias gariepinus). To determine the effect of 4-nonylphenol on reproduction; catfish were exposed to three concentrations of 4-nonylphenol in a flow-through-system during spawning period (some for one wee...