some South American non pleco cats

[sidguppy]

OK people, it's a bit of a riddle.

we found ourselves an exporter located in Peru with a zillion interesting fish, but it seems like a LOT of their names are all wrong

and it leads to certain surprises...

Catfish #1, labelled as "Canero Black", and lumped in with the Cetopsis species.

I'm pretty sure this is some sort of Hepapterus or Rhamdia but wich one?

catfish #2:

same fish?
this one's called "Cetopsis Black".....
to me, it looks like a very nice small Rhamdia like fish and not a parasitic terror......

catfish #3:
now THIS is a nice surprise! labelled as: "Cetopsis spp Nanay"

a real honest to god non parasitic trichomycteridae.
Ituglanis? Trichomycterus? I can see ventral fins, the whiskers of a peaceful non parasitic sanddigger......
these are fun fish to get, I'm sure. but what is it?

catfish #4: named: Hemicetopsis candiru

I'm pretty sure this is not a Cetopsid, the dorsal is placed too far back. I think it's Pareiodon spp
I have no idea if Pareiodon is a parasitic fish, though.
given the looks I'd say it will behave like Cetopsis coecutiens......but is that true?

catfish #5:
actually catfish 5 and 6......this is called "hemicetopsis sleepyhead"

but I see a Cetopsis on the left and another non parasitic Trichomycterid on the right.
anyone guess wich are the proper names?

catfish #7:
one for Marc, this is labelled as "Novia sirena"

and this must be Trachelyopterichthys taeniatus or call me mudfoot!
Marc, heard this name before? Novia sirena?

catfish #8 is another one in the same vein, Novia torito.....

Tetranematichthys spp. definitely a male, but i cannot tell if this is wallacei or quadrifilis.

catfish #9: "platydoras sp red"

some sort of Acanthodoras spp. anyone dare to guess cataphractus or spinosissimus?


and the non photograped riddles:
according to the list they have 3 "porthol cats", all are called "Hoplosternum sp Jumbo", here's the crux:
the GREEn porthol
the RED porthol
the YELLOW porthol
.....
as far as I know Porthole Cats are Dianema and those certainly are no jumbo's.
is this trade for Callichthys or Megalechis? anyone?

tnx!
SG

[Richard B]

I think the last one, the acanthodoras is

Acanthodoras sp(2)

- some nice fish, completely away from the run-of-the-mill stuff - i was hoping for astroblepus in the photos somewhere..... but alas no

[Martin S]

Hi
I would say #8 is

Tetranematichthys wallacei

, but only because the collection area for T. quadrifilis, according to a response from Marc when I asked the same question when I was identifying my T.wallacei, is remote.

The main difference between the two species is that quadrifilis is found is a very small and rather remote area, whereas wallacei is widely spread. Thus scientists concluded that the exported species is wallacei. I don't think people like us could tell both species apart , but I could have a look into the article.

It does, with the exception of the lighter colouring, look very much like my male.
I'd also agree that #7 is

Trachelyopterichthys taeniatus

.
Certainly a very interesting collection of unusual catfish!
Martin

[sidguppy]

anyone fancy a go with the Trichomycterids and the Hepapterus-like catfish?

[Marc van Arc]

Green porthole is supposed to be Callichthys callichthys.
Yellow porthole is supposed to be Hoplosternum littorale.

However, when I ordered green portholes via an LFS over here, I got..... Tatia cf altae (which were named Tatia reticulata). It very difficult to rely on a wholesaler is he just sends something .....

[nvcichlids]

I am extremely jealous of those Trachelyopterichthys taeniatus. I cannot find them here to save me. I did find my spotted raphaels listed as portholes over the weekend, so this definately shows to never trust what the person calls them lol.

[Silurus]

I believe the first fish is Myoglanis koepckei, a species described from the Río Nanay in Peru in 1999.

[Silurus]

I have no idea if Pareiodon is a parasitic fish, though.

Available reports seem to indicate that they're not.

[sidguppy]

uh oh

ordering Callichthys and getting Tatia won't do.
but tnx for clearafying this one. I was stumped.

we definitely need more pictures then.
the whole plan is still in it's infancy.
currently we're trying to get enough people on board and also to get more details from the exporters over there.
;)

[Silurus]

catfish #5:
actually catfish 5 and 6......this is called "hemicetopsis sleepyhead"

but I see a Cetopsis on the left and another non parasitic Trichomycterid on the right.
anyone guess wich are the proper names?

I think the cetopsid is

Cetopsis parma

.

[Silurus]

catfish #3:
now THIS is a nice surprise! labelled as: "Cetopsis spp Nanay"

a real honest to god non parasitic trichomycteridae.
Ituglanis? Trichomycterus? I can see ventral fins, the whiskers of a peaceful non parasitic sanddigger......
these are fun fish to get, I'm sure. but what is it?

By some sleuthing, I deduce that this is most likely Trichomycterus taczanowskii.

[sidguppy]

thanks, HH!


right now we're trying to find out wich extra costs there are involved (quite a lot), it's horribly confusing, and then we'll compile a list

but also somewhere along the line i need more and better pictures from the exporter.
because I definitely don't fancy ordering 1 box with 10 "Green Porthole Jumbo" (they're 10 in a box) and getting 10 tiny Tatia.......

it would be very cool if we can get them crazy enough to mix up some of these Trichomycterids to top off a box, but that's highly unlikely.

as things are, my aim is to get 1 box Callichthys (for breeding purposes), 1 box Rhamdia quelen (ditto and for the big showtank) and maybe 1 box Hoplosternum littorale (definitely with aim of breeding) to share with a few other people.

to be continued ;)

[Chrysichthys]

"Green Porthole Jumbo"

One time a LFS had "green porthole catfish" on their list
and I ordered some to see what they were. They turned
out to be H. littorale, which can look bluish-green depending
on the angle of the light. I don't know why, in Florida, they
call them brown hoplos. All the ones I've ever seen are gray
with the greenish overtone.

[sidguppy]

that's why we need better pictures and a lot more talking to the guys who run the show

[Chrysichthys]

and maybe 1 box Hoplosternum littorale

...I didn't notice that bit earlier. H. littorale make great pets. They're
as smart as a SA Red-tail, without the size problem.

[sidguppy]

yeah, I know

unfortunately we're talking late 80's early 90's since I ever had that species; ditto Callichthys
never saw them available anymore after that......

over here, they are now rare as hen's teeth. and nobody breeds them, they're not on any importers' list.

wich is a bloody shame, since it's such a nice and easy fish to keep.
very active, peaceful, doesn't outgrow mediumsized tanks.

definitely deserves a come-back IMO. ;)

[sidguppy]

digging up my own old topic:

we're currently mailing for better pictures to get an idea what is hiding behind all those made-up fancy trade labels

I asked for the fishes behind "porthole red, yellow and green" and got this:



now unless I'm going blind, this IS a genuine adult male Callichthys callichthys.......


but it's porthole RED jumbo....., not the green.

still waiting for what they call "Calixto Green", because according to their own list, that should be Callichthys.
but at least, they ave the fish i'm looking for!

[MatsP]

Execellent looking fish.

--
Mats

[sidguppy]

yes it is

but i just received the pic, not the fish.

if only!