Silutichthys sp. & Unidentified Orange-ish Rheophilic (?) Catfish ID?

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Fallen_Leaves16
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Silutichthys sp. & Unidentified Orange-ish Rheophilic (?) Catfish ID?

Post by Fallen_Leaves16 »

(Copied and pasted from MFK)

Managed to find a Silurichthys sp. at my LFS; been searching for some time and was rather happy to finally get one. Very small, but healthy and active; it's currently in quarantine with a few Badis badis. Not entirely too sure what the exact species is, though; was first supposedly labeled S. hasselti and later re-labeled as S. phaiosoma. Anyone able to provide a definitive ID?
Screenshot 2023-02-05 180352.png
The second catfish was an alleged South American import without any form of ID; I (along with a few others) had believed it to be a Pseudopimelodus species, but its odd body shape (almost akin to rheophilic catfishes of Southeastern Asia) and unusual traits (extremely reduced/absent swim bladder, abrasive patch of skin on the belly region, distinct midlateral line, tendency to "cling" to surfaces, low tolerance for anoxic conditions) has made me suspect that the fish is a Glyptothorax species. The fish was only sold under the name "Red Marbled Catfish" and no collection point was provided. Any ID would be extremely helpful; I currently have the fish in a 10G quarantine with a large sponge filter and a decently strong powerhead for water movement, and would gladly appreciate any information that would allow me to better accommodate the needs of the fish.
Screenshot 2023-02-05 180912.png
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Re: Silutichthys sp. & Unidentified Orange-ish Rheophilic (?) Catfish ID?

Post by panaque »

The first one certainly looks a lot like the I used to catch in black water tributaries in the Rungan/Kahayan drainage in southern Borneo. You may need to do anal fin ray count and compare shape of the caudal fin to make sure, if I remember correctly. Do you know where it was collected?

The second one definitely looks like a sisorid from Asia and not something from South America. A belly shot showing it's adhesive organ might be helpful for getting an ID on this one.
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Re: Silutichthys sp. & Unidentified Orange-ish Rheophilic (?) Catfish ID?

Post by Fallen_Leaves16 »

panaque wrote: 06 Feb 2023, 11:58 The first one certainly looks a lot like the I used to catch in black water tributaries in the Rungan/Kahayan drainage in southern Borneo. You may need to do anal fin ray count and compare shape of the caudal fin to make sure, if I remember correctly. Do you know where it was collected?

The second one definitely looks like a sisorid from Asia and not something from South America. A belly shot showing it's adhesive organ might be helpful for getting an ID on this one.
Unfortunately, no collection point was provided upon purchase and further inquiries have yielded no results. I can attempt to take a good picture of the anal fin and tail sometime today, but as the fish is quite skittish and fast, it might be a bit difficult.

As for the possible sisorid, a rough general comparison and fin ray counts appear to suggest that the fish is most likely ; any thoughts on the ID? I'll get a picture of the belly and upload it a bit later.
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Re: Silutichthys sp. & Unidentified Orange-ish Rheophilic (?) Catfish ID?

Post by Jools »

would be my guess on the other guy.

Jools
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Fallen_Leaves16
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Re: Silutichthys sp. & Unidentified Orange-ish Rheophilic (?) Catfish ID?

Post by Fallen_Leaves16 »

Jools wrote: 06 Feb 2023, 16:36 would be my guess on the other guy.

Jools
On further examination, the fish does indeed seem to be remarkably similar to Glyptothorax rugimentum based on the adhesive(?) ridges, which seem to extend rather far up to just behind the gill plates. Unfortunately, I was unable to get a clear image of this (I don't want to bother the fish any more by attempting to take another photo), but I am reasonably certain of what I saw.
Thanks for the ID!

On a side note, what would be the best setup for the fish? I think I might have to set up a separate coldwater stream tank with several flat, round stones and a sandy substrate, but I'm not too certain what the exact water parameters should be. Something that's intimidating me a little is how a few people have been saying that captive Glyptothorax rarely seem to live past a couple months, even in a dedicated setup. Do you have any thoughts on that?
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Fallen_Leaves16
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Re: Silutichthys sp. & Unidentified Orange-ish Rheophilic (?) Catfish ID?

Post by Fallen_Leaves16 »

panaque wrote: 06 Feb 2023, 11:58 The first one certainly looks a lot like the I used to catch in black water tributaries in the Rungan/Kahayan drainage in southern Borneo. You may need to do anal fin ray count and compare shape of the caudal fin to make sure, if I remember correctly. Do you know where it was collected?

The second one definitely looks like a sisorid from Asia and not something from South America. A belly shot showing it's adhesive organ might be helpful for getting an ID on this one.
I managed to count the anal fin rays for the first catfish and got around 55; would that suggest that the fish is ?
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Re: Silutichthys sp. & Unidentified Orange-ish Rheophilic (?) Catfish ID?

Post by Jools »

Fallen_Leaves16 wrote: 07 Feb 2023, 14:14 On a side note, what would be the best setup for the fish? I think I might have to set up a separate coldwater stream tank with several flat, round stones and a sandy substrate, but I'm not too certain what the exact water parameters should be. Something that's intimidating me a little is how a few people have been saying that captive Glyptothorax rarely seem to live past a couple months, even in a dedicated setup. Do you have any thoughts on that?
Here's how I kept them. Temp was 74F.
according to my notes, kept them for over two years. Ate frozen bloodworms well. Kept alone. I think (a) often they are in poor shape before they get to their final keeper and (b) folks keep them too warm and don't pay them enough attention in terms of feeding and water. Treat them like high end hillstream plecos and I think they'd be fine.

HTH,

Jools
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Re: Silutichthys sp. & Unidentified Orange-ish Rheophilic (?) Catfish ID?

Post by Fallen_Leaves16 »

*Copied and pasted from MFK*

Sad update: The Glyptothorax rugimentum has recently passed, most likely due to import stress and something that I did wrong regarding its care. I was unable to really get it to eat much; the fish would occasionally suck up a couple bloodworms but that was it; the fish was apparently very skinny to begin with when compared to other images of the species. I moved the fish to a 20G long with a thin layer of sand and some rounded stones; the tank was filtered with an Aquaclear 30 and had a strong powerhead affixed to the far right end. Gradually lowering the water temp to ~70 seemed to help with labored and rapid breathing. Honestly, the fish never really moved much at all and would sit at the base of a rock for most of the day. Not sure if that's atypical of the species, though. Parameters were 0,0, and 5 (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate) with a pH of ~7. Interestingly enough, none of the fish (a handful of white cloud minnows) actively attempted to eat the corpse or showed any interest in it, and the body did not seem to degrade at all for several hours. I ended up freezing the body in a plastic bag with some water; what should I do with the body? Probably won't try sisorids again unless I can source a good chiller.

On a side note, the silurichthys is ~99% hasselti and the fish is doing very well in a 5g with tons of leaf litter.
"If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it's probably some sort of mutated goose, in today's day and age..."
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