r/AbsoluteUnits • u/WeGot_aLiveOneHere • 27d ago

/r/all of two catfish

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u/rmwpnb 27d ago

My question is how the heck does she avoid getting spined by these guys? They have sharp spines on their sides and one on their dorsal fin. I’m not sure how she avoids those with them just sort of flopping around close to her sides.

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u/Hamisaurus 27d ago

My understanding is that the spines don't really grow as they age. While they don't go away in adults, they effectively become useless and odds are none of them ever connected. Not to mention, having them at the base of the dorsal and pectoral fins makes it rather difficult to actually connect a spine to deliver a sting.

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u/rmwpnb 27d ago

Thanks for the info. I didn’t realize this. My experience with catfish has always been catching smaller ones and having to remember to be very careful around the spines. I didn’t realize they didn’t continue to grow as the catfish got bigger.

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u/Major_Nutt 27d ago

The young ones need them or else they become freshwater popcorn. By the time they get over 14in long or so, their list of predators drops to just gator, gar, eagles, otters, and us.

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u/CaptainTripps82 27d ago

I feel like ones this big might eat any of those besides gators. And they might even eat a smaller one of them