Sold as a Royal Farlowella, Help I.D. Please!

[RiverRock]

Hi, I'm a long time fish keeper but new to these boards! This guy was sold as a royal farlowella, but I cannot determine the species or L-number, even when using the tools on this website. None seem to have the dominant black dorsal fin, and I'm unsure if this is indicative if the species. I'd sure like to know what you think I have.

Another question I had is if anyone has any idea if it looks like a specimen that is often bred or wild caught? It is very small at the moment, about 2 and half inches, and is very active during the day.

Thanks!

[Mol_PMB]

In my eyes, that's not a twig, it's a whiptail. Sturisoma maybe?



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[RiverRock]

I think so too, but have no idea on the species. None have the black dorsal fin as far as I can tell.

[Mol_PMB]

You've looked at the Loricaria, Hemiloricaria, Rineloricaria, Lamontichthys etc? I'm sure I've seen some of these with black dorsals before.


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[Karsten S.]

Hi,

this is a Sturisoma or Sturisomatichthys, but the pics are IMHO not good enough to ID them.
What makes it even worse is that these species easily crossbreed...
They are fairly easy to breed, only raising the fry can be a challenge sometimes, they are quite delicate when they are smaller than 2,5 inch.

Perhaps we also need to wait until there a bit bigger, most species of these genera can reach ~20 cm.

Cheers,

[RiverRock]

Thanks for the info. I can try to take better pictures. What in particular would be most useful?

[RiverRock]

You've looked at the Loricaria, Hemiloricaria, Rineloricaria, Lamontichthys etc? I'm sure I've seen some of these with black dorsals before.


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It looks similar to Sturisomatichthys leighitoni, which has black on the dorsal, but apparently not the straight and vivid black line this one shows on it's first dorsal spine.

[Scleropages]

I agree with kamas88, looks like Sturisoma or Sturisomatichthys. They commonly call these species "Royal Farlowella" at the LFS near me.

[Karsten S.]

Hi,

It looks similar to Sturisomatichthys leighitoni, which has black on the dorsal, but apparently not the straight and vivid black line this one shows on it's first dorsal spine.

the question is if you really have seen Sturisomatichthys leightoni, this name is very frequently misused for other species...
Don't get me wrong Sturisomatichthys leightoni can have black in the dorsal but the species of this genus are quite variable.

A good lateral pic of the fish would certainly help to rule out a lot of species, the length and form of the rostrum is what I would like to see.
Additional a sharp pic of the caudal fin (to count the number of rays) might help as well.
A problem might be the size, this for example is a juvenile Sturisomatichthys sp. "Colombia I", the form of the rostrum (rather straight) is pretty much different compared to the adults (the colouration as well):



Cheers,

[RiverRock]

These are the best shots I can get so far. A decent lateral shot, and a shot of it's underside. I'm having a hard time getting a shot that shows the dorsal rays... I can't count them in person yet either.

Thanks!

[Karsten S.]

Hi,

I would say that it is a Sturisomatichthys sp., for a Sturisoma the snout is IMHO too short.
The snout is rather straight which would be ok with S. leightoni but the size might be too small to be sure.
As far as I know also S. tamanae also has a straight snout.
The marking is not really typical for the two mentioned species but as stated they are variable and this might still change with growth.

Cheers,

[RiverRock]

Thanks! Are these species common in the trade?I will mark my calendar and post updated pictures later on.

[Karsten S.]

Hi,

they are not really common, Sturisoma species are much more frequently found (at least here in Germany).
Up to now I have seen Sturisomatichthys species only been sold privately and a few times also on stock lists.
But especially in the latter case you never know if the names are correct...

Cheers,