Description

Striped Eel Catfish are somewhat of an oddity as most people associate Catfish with freshwater and big old ugly looking things. This photo depicts a small bait ball of extremely tiny ocean faring Catfish, no more than 2 – 3 cm each these little guys were picking their way across the black volcanic sands of Talumben, Bali, Indonesia.

Catfish when born will be born in the hundreds to thousands and they in turn create these bait balls, with enough food they grow quickly into adulthood and when mature enough the whole bait ball spawns together once more and the cycle continues. I’ve seen these Catfish literally invade wrecks and other protected areas for short periods of time, then after mating they die off in the hundreds, you return to the dive site the next day and the sea floor or reef will be littered with their carcasses rolling about and or being attacked by all manner of Eel, Shark, Grouper & Crab.

Also don’t get to close to them, they have poisonous spines on top which will cause extreme pain and massive swelling for us humans.