Rio Branco

[racoll]

Recent collecting trip to the Rio Branco, Brazil. We weren't targeting catfishes, but a few came up as by-catch.

Woody snags.


Sand banks.


Calophysus macropterus?

Exallodontus aguanai

?




We ate

Brachyplatystoma filamentosum

.


Also ate

Platynematichthys notatus

! How much were these going for in Pier again?


Damn tasty it was too. Would make cracking fish 'n chips. Nice firm white flesh.

Sturisoma nigrirostrum

?

Hemiodontichthys acipenserinus

Pseudoloricaria

?

Pterygoplichthys gibbiceps

Mmmm, gibbiceps soup. A lot of people don't like it. They say it's the fish you still taste the next day.

Squaliforma

Scorpiodoras heckelii

?

[MatsP]

Very nice to see some pictures of what you are up to.

Sturisoma nigrirostrum

is listed as Ucayali, which is quite some distance, in most reasonable definitions of "distance", from Rio Branco, unless you are talking of a different one than the one branching to the north then east from the Rio Negro that joins the Amazon at Manaus...

Not convinced on the P. gibbiceps either - looks more "spotted" than I'd expect them to be.

--
Mats

[dconnors]

Awesome photos!

[racoll]

Sturisoma nigrirostrum is listed as Ucayali, which is quite some distance, in most reasonable definitions of "distance", from Rio Branco, unless you are talking of a different one than the one branching to the north then east from the Rio Negro that joins the Amazon at Manaus...

Yes, it is a large distance, but that's not to say they aren't found all along the way. Alternatively, it may not be S. nigrirostrum; was just a guess based on superficial similarity. It had a black snout.

Not convinced on the P. gibbiceps either - looks more "spotted" than I'd expect them to be.

Bear in mind these were very big ones, and do tend to look different from smaller ones in the trade. I think P. gibbiceps is a complex of species, also.

[Bas Pels]

I got several P gibbiceps, bought all in once, 9 years back. 2 of them are in my biggest tank, both are ~40 cm, where 1 is much more spotted than the other.

I can't say whether P gibbiceps is e complex or not, but I think the individual difference can be high too

[Jools]

Awesomeness. I'd love to be doing that again. Is the first Pim perhaps

Pinirampus

?

Jools

[Acanthicus]

Is the first Pim perhaps

Pinirampus

?

Thats my guess too, I caught a similar one in Bolivia, and it's for sure not a Calophysus macropterus.

[racoll]

Is the first Pim perhaps Pinirampus?

I had considered that, but fisherman assured me it was

Piracatinga

. Perhaps they don't distinguish them?

I checked the higher resolution photos, and the barbels are flat, which would make it

Pinirampus

?