Gafftopsail Catfish

 

Animal Unique | Gafftopsail Catfish | Gafftopsail catfish prefer deeper channels, particularly brackish water in the bays and estuaries with sandy soils of high organic content. The Gafftopsail catfishis found in the waters of the western central Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea. This is a common sea catfish fishing by both commercial fishermen and recreational anglers in the Gulf Coast, especially between April and August. His dark, tender, lean meat is a popular table fare and has a moderate flavor. Gafftopsail catfish has long poisonous spines that can cause painful wounds.

 

Scientific classification
Kingdom:     Animalia
Phylum:     Chordata
Class:     Actinopterygii
Order:     Siluriformes
Family:     Ariidae
Genus:     Bagre
Species:     B. marinus

Gafftopsail catfish has a steel-blue dorsal fins silvery belly, and a robust body with a broad depressed head, with a pair of flat barbs. The dorsal and pectoral fins are greatly elongated spines. The appearance is typical of a catfish with the exception of the deeply forked tail and poisonous, serrated spines. It also has a small bump that looks a bit like a wave. The typical length of an adult gafftopsail catfish is about 17 inches.

 

Gafftopsail catfish move in large schools and migrate from shallow bays and estuaries to open waters of the Gulf of Mexico in winter. This movement and migration in the Gulf coastal and estuarine waters are related to spawning activity and the environment conditions.Spawning takes place in the inshore waters of swallowing between April and July and has some special features. Gafftopsail catfish sexually mature at the age of 2 and are between 10 and 11 centimeters in length at the moment. They have a low fertility, producing only 20 to 64 eggs per female, their eggs are considered the largest of all eggs laid by fish bone. Males carrying the eggs and young in the mouth from 11 to 13 weeks until they are about 3 cm long, 55 or young are said to be carried out in this way at a time.

 

Crabs, shrimp, and various small fish to their diet, but like all catfish, Gafftopsail catfish have broad interests diet. In addition to humans, predators of the Gafftopsail catfish are the tiger shark and bull shark. Gafftopsail catfish are good eat, you can fillet and cut the red sidelines of each fillet to prevent "Muddy taste". When you are removing of the hook of this catfish, be careful with the poisonous spines on the pectoral fins and dorsal fin.

 

Gafftopsail catfish is a common catch in the southeastern United States, although it is also caught as far north as New York. They come from piers, jetties, reefs, and the surf, but also bottom fishing or flats fishing. They are attracted by the sound of struggling fish, like a popping cork creates. Catfish catch is also used to catch Gafftopsail catfish; catch is regulated in some states. Catfish traps include "slat traps," long wooden traps with an angled entrance, and wire hoop traps.

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