Bayad facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Bayad |
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The bayad (Bagrus bajad) is a cool type of catfish found in Africa. It's known for its unique looks and how it lives in rivers and lakes. This fish is an important part of the underwater world and also a valuable food source for people.
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Where Bayad Live
Bayad fish naturally live in lakes and rivers across Africa. You can find them in big lakes like Lake Chad, Lake Albert, and Lake Turkana. They also swim in famous rivers such as the Nile, the Niger, and the Senegal River. They always prefer fresh water and stay away from salty ocean water.
What Does a Bayad Look Like?
The bayad has a long, stretched-out body. Its top fin has a smooth spine, and its side fins have spines with tiny teeth on the inside. This helps them move and protect themselves.
They have four pairs of whiskers, called barbels, around their mouth. These whiskers are super helpful for finding food in the water. The longest whiskers usually reach all the way to their belly fins.
Bayad Colors and Size
Bayad fish can be yellow-greenish or even blackish on top, with a white belly. Their fins are usually darker, sometimes even a reddish-purple color. Young bayad fish have small black spots on their sides.
These fish can grow quite large! The biggest bayad ever measured was about 112 centimetres (44.1 in) long. The heaviest one recorded weighed around 12.5 kilograms (27.5 lb). But some people say they can get as heavy as 100 kg (220 lb)!
Girl bayad fish tend to grow bigger and heavier than boy bayad fish of the same age. Boy bayad usually grow for up to 7 years, while girls can grow for 8 years.
How Bayad Live and Eat
Bayad fish live in lakes, swamps, and rivers. They love to hide in rocky cracks during the day, so you don't often see them swimming around. They spend most of their time near the bottom of the water, where they also find their food.
What Bayad Eat
Adult bayad fish are mostly fish-eaters. They hunt and eat smaller fish, especially types like Alestes or Chrysichthys auratus. They are very good at catching their prey by attacking head-on. This way, they avoid getting hurt by the sharp spines of the fish they are trying to catch. Besides fish, bayad also eat insects, crustaceans (like crabs or shrimp), mollusks (like snails), and even some plant material.
Bayad Families
When it's time to have babies, bayad fish might move to shallower water. The spawning season, which is when they lay eggs, happens from April to July.
Bayad parents are very caring! They build and guard a special nest for their eggs. The nest looks like a flat disc with a hole in the middle where the eggs are placed. The size of the nest and its hole depend on how big the parent fish are.
Bayad and People
The bayad is a very important fish for people. Its meat is tasty and healthy, making it a popular food source in many places. Because of this, the bayad fish is important for the economy in areas where it is caught and sold.
