18 September 2011

Albino catfish

Matt Gallant (left) poses with a whopping 7ft 6inch albino catfish... He pulled the giant albino catfish, which weighed 180lbs, out of the River Ebro in Spain on the last day of his fishing trip... We took a photo, then put it back in the river." 
Text and photo from the Telegraph; photo credit Geoff Robinson Photography.

Kudos to the two young men for their "catch and release." But while researching whether this is an example of albinism or leucism, I found this intersting information:
The incidence of albinism can be artificially increased in fish by exposing the eggs to heavy metals (e.g., arsenic, cadmium, copper, mercury, selenium, zinc) and may occur in fry originating from crosses in which adult specimens have been exposed to heavy metals (Oliveira & Foresti, 1996).

6 comments:

  1. The highlighting on the chest of the man on the right is...mysterious.

    That being said, that catfish is HUGE! Impressive.

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  2. There's a spotlight on the fish. The arm of the man on the left casts a gradient shadow on the chest of the man on the right.

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  3. I think the highlight might be the result of reflection off of the fish itself.

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  4. Looking at it again, this time on a full-size monitor instead of a phone, it really does look like it's a spotlight or even more likely two (three?) large flashlights. There are twin bright spots on the knee of the man on the right and a dimmer one on the right shoulder of the man on the left. The person (people?) holding the lights is on the left if the person taking the picture, somewhat nearby, though not directly next-to. The light reflects slightly more off the fish's face than its side, which also makes me think there are two people holding three flashlights.

    Catfish don't have scales, so they're far less reflective than many other fish. Being a highly reflective bottom-feeder would only get you eaten.

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  5. Or, perhaps for a night photo, it might have been "painted" with light?

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  6. Or they must of have a really bright flash light!

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