Hi MissNoodle,
You are correct that you have two species there. To properly ID your species, use the key found here:
Which Farlowella species have 3 rows of ventral scutes?. The key gets you through most of the species, except the 5 most recently described. For those, I put in relevant details to help identify them
here.
Based on Step 1 of the key (incomplete abdominal middle row), your fish with the incomplete middle row of abdominal scutes has to be one of these five species:
,
,
,
, or
.
Based on likelihood of catch location, I'd rule out
and
. The other three species would possibly be scooped up by fishermen when collecting
.
has two, not one, middle row plates posteriorly, so yours is not that either. This leaves only
and
. From the key,
- 3a. Snout-mouth length/pectoral fin length > 1.0 .....Farlowella platorynchus
- 3b. Snout-mouth length/pectoral fin length <0.6 ....Farlowella colombiensis
Your photo above is perfect for seeing snout-mouth length and pectoral fin length. Clearly, you fish's SML/PFL ratio is > 1.0, so your fish is
!
seems a reasonable ID for your other fish based on the key, but your photos don't show all the traits needed to confim, and some of the traits are dependent on the fish being adult.
On another note, that photo you picked out of
showing the abdominal plates must be mis-assigned, because the species lacks the incomplete middle row.
Cheers, Eric
