Help with Garra ID please; G. congoensis, ornata or ??

[killi69]

I ordered some Garras for my Cameroon tank from a Congo shipment labled as 'Garra lancrenonensis'.

When they arrived, it was obvious they were far too big to be lancrenonensis, which according to Fishbase grow only to about an inch http://fishbase.sinica.edu.tw/Summary/S ... renonensis

They look like G. congoensis but I was hoping they might be G. ornata as G. ornata occurs in Cameroon also. The only picture I could find of G. ornata was on http://fishbase.sinica.edu.tw/Summary/S ... ame=ornata;


Below are some pics of the fish I bought. Any help on ID would be much appreciated. Regards,

Andre

[Silurus]

According to the key to all African Garra in Stiassny & Getahun (2007), there are only three species known from the Congo River drainage: G. hindii (chest with scales), G. congoensis (chest without scales, slender body ~ 11-15% SL) and G. ornata (chest without scales, deeper body ~ 16-22% SL).

Garra lancrenonensis is restricted to Chad, so it would be a Nilo-Sudanian, not a Congo species.

[killi69]

Thanks for your reply.

I agree they are not G lancrenonensis.

Could you tell from the pics whether they are G. congoensis or ornata?

i find it quite hard to tell whether they have this 'deeper body'.

Regards

Andre

[killi69]

Compare the first pic of G. Ornata to my pics and a photo of Garra_congoensis published oon loaches online

[Silurus]

Here is the image of G. ornata in the original description:



and the holotype:



Looks like a pretty good match to me.

[killi69]

Thank you Silurus.

That would be good news for me if they are G. ornata, as I try to keep a Community tank for Cameroon fish only, and G. congoensis does not appear in Cameroon, whereas G. ornata does.

Still find it very difficult to tell them apart. In some of my pics they look more like ornata, in others more like congoensis, but your feedback has given me great encouragement - thank you!

Regards,

Andre

[N0body Of The Goat]

Nice find!

Did you get these from Wildwoods by any chance (adam88 at pfk picked up a Garra congoensis around Xmas from them after a courier nightmare, where the first box got lost in the system for a few days, poor fish/Atya all perished), or was it perhaps a store that ordered them for you from Neil Hardy Aquatics' well known African wholesale trade?

What other African species have you got?

[killi69]

A friend of mine runs a small business importing fish and got them in especially for me. I think he still has some of these Garras left over. Contact [email protected] if you are interested.

I keep a 5x2x2 planted community tank with various fish which occur in Cameroon. It started off as a killi tank from Cameroon but I have over time diversified the species I keep. I run quite a high level of filtration; two Eheim 2080's and one AC70 powerhead, with two very large internal sponge filters fitted also.

Catfish
- Synodontis pleurops, but am really on the lookout for original Microsynodontis batesii's. I have a couple of M. pollis (not from Cameroon) in there which I thought were batesiis at the time I put them in.
- a (to me unknown) Chiloglanis species
- Today I bought two Gymnallebes typus‏ that will be going in soon, following quarantine.

Killis;
- Procatopus aberrans
- Chromaphyosemion bivittatum
- Chromaphyosemion splendopleure
- Aphyosemion riggenbachi

For the rest;
- Pelvicachromis taeniatus "Moliwe"
- Microctenopoma fasciolatum
- Microctenopoma ansorgii

- Sicydium sp
- Nannocharax fasciatus
- Brienomyrus brachyistius
- and off course the Garras

So a bit of a mixture of species, some more riverine than others, but I have had most in there for a long time and there seems to be enough flow for those who like it and plenty of cover for those who prefer some shelter.

Here is a picture of my tank.


I will post some more pics of the tank and fish some other time.

Regards,

Andre

[Tanganyikafreak]

That tank looks great!

I also like the original combination of species