Buffei or Debauwi?????

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FishyMcFishFish
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Buffei or Debauwi?????

Post by FishyMcFishFish »

I have just bought a group of 10 pareautropius from my lfs which were being sold as p.debauwi. However, due research that I had done previously it has come to my attention that these have a high possibility of being p.buffei! The employee who served me, a very knowledgeable hobbiest, didn't know which species they were when I queried him about the species but did inform me that he isn't the one that orders the fish. Does anyone know any visual differences between p.debauwi and p.buffei? Even so I do think I got quite a good deal on them at only £12.50 per trio with number 10 free as he was the only one left in the tank and I have a good relationship with the shop! Any help would be greatly appreciated!

-Ethan
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Dave Rinaldo
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Re: Buffei or Debauwi?????

Post by Dave Rinaldo »

You most likely have .

From the link above: "Most often these catfish are imported and sold as P. debauwi, often leading to an alternative common name of ''debauwi cats''. This isn't accurate however. The true P. debauwi is rarely imported and has several distinguishing features. P. buffei has three body stripes, the lower is broken around the pelvic fins and a stripe or spot on each of the caudal fin lobes. P. debauwi on the other hand has one body stripe and clear caudal fin lobes. These are not very good identification parameters however, as telling the two fish apart requires adult fish. Fish less than 30mm or so in length of both species do not have all of these features, for example often young P. buffei have clear caudal fins and a greatly diminished lower stripe."
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FishyMcFishFish
Posts: 11
Joined: 18 Oct 2017, 20:38
My cats species list: 11 (i:3, k:0)
My aquaria list: 5 (i:1)
My BLogs: 5 (i:0, p:46)
My Wishlist: 61
Spotted: 12
Location 1: England
Location 2: Manchester

Re: Buffei or Debauwi?????

Post by FishyMcFishFish »

Thanks for the quick reply, I will assume they are p.buffei due to your helpful reply and description! Since adding them to the tank 7 are swimming in a tight shoal with 1 occasionally swimming away from the others, whilst 2 are sitting almost motionless at opposite ends of the roots of my massive java fern. The final one remains unseen since it darted to the back after being added. Any suggestions? Or should I see how they are doing in a few hours?
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