Dutiful Dad!

  We all hear about how the male seahorse carries the eggs and little ones in a pouch but, most of the time, we never hear about a dutiful dad who does an even more remarkable feat.  The Gafftopsail Catfish is a "mouth-breeder".  The male fish carries the fertilized eggs in his mouth for the entire time it takes the eggs to hatch.  This is quite the undertaking as the fish can be carrying around 50 marble-sized eggs at a time!  Think about that one for a minute, here!  For the 65 days that it takes those eggs to hatch, poor, old Dad cannot swallow!  The male fish does not eat for the entire time that he is carrying the eggs!  Once the eggs hatch and the little fish swim out of his mouth, they will seek refuge there any time there is danger nearby for approximately two weeks.  Ok, so the eggs hatch, a bunch of little, 2 inch long fish swim about eating and growing until they are 4 inches long BUT, if danger lurks nearby, they all scoot right back into Dad's mouth!  This sound incredible enough but usually Dad is a fish that is usually less than 20 inches long, himself!  Now go figure!

  The seahorse get all the fame and glory and our catfish simply goes about doing his fatherly duties without complaint.  To my way of thinking, the Gafftopsail Catfish should be voted Father of the Year of the critter world!  He goes above and beyond just to assure that his little ones are safe.  Personally, I have new-found respect for the fish usually dubbed as "trash fish".  By the way, the one in the photo is a tiny one that I caught this morning.  It could not have been hatched for long as it was a mere 6 inches in length!  Little fishy...go back in the water and be safe!  No more biting baits that are on a hook!