Lophiobagrus???

[Birger]

Stumbled across 7 of these little gems
They are juvi's at approx. 25 mm TL.
Looking for opinions on species
Sold as cyclurus

Thanks for looking
Birger

[Silurus]

Lophiobagrus brevispinis

if you ask me.

[Phyllonemus]

lophiobagrus cyclurus

has a vertical, lighter stripe on the end of the tail fin.
This is a Brevsipinnis to me

[Richard B]

It's not cyclurus - i am presuming it is brevispinis, not having seen any other species in the trade.

[Birger]

Lophiobagrus brevispinis if you ask me.

That is what I was thinking as well just wanted it confirmed.

lophiobagrus cyclurus has a vertical, lighter stripe on the end of the tail fin.

Wasn't real positive if the juvi's would have had this or not.


Thanks all!
Birger

[Richard B]

The best thing for me was something Sidguppy posted about the head of brevispinis looking like a newt - this one certainly does - cyclurus has smaller eyes & is quite unattractive (as far as lophios go! )

[sidguppy]

juvenile cyclurus are very dark, when put in a light bucket they turn into a reddish brown color, sometimes even pink.
but when they're smaller than 3 cm or so they're very dark.

brtevispinis is much more grey ort light brown.

also: the caudal of brevispinis is rounded, cyclurus has a truncated caudal with a square edge

the comment about eyes fits; brevispinis does have larger eyes.

as for attractive, for me both species are attractive.
but cyclurus is quite a nasty fish!
it's behaviour, demanor and defense is completely different from brevispinis.......

brevispinis excrates huge amounts of mucus when caught, it's like a tiny slime ghost from ghostbusters

cyclurus doesn't bother with slime, well it does, but not as much
it goes straight for toxins, poisoning the water.
cyclurus must be bagged separately and never with other fish

[Phyllonemus]

cyclurus doesn't bother with slime, well it does, but not as much
it goes straight for toxins, poisoning the water.
cyclurus must be bagged separately and never with other fish

For instance, you have a mixed tank with cichlids, cyclurus and other cats, is it possible that the toxins from cyclurus in the water can harm the other fish ?

[Richard B]

Not IME - my cyclurus is in with P.Typus, L.Brevispinis various synos & Placidochromis Electra "Likoma".

it lives in a flowerpot & prowls around at lights off or at feeding times & freely swims in & out of syno feeding frenzies without any real interaction at all. No other fish show any signs of any adverse reaction to secretions.

[sidguppy]

if it isn't stressed, it will not harm other fish

it definitely depends on how fragile the other fishes are

I have had dead featherfins thanks to a freaked out adult female cyclurus

I had to rescue that fish (the male was killing her, a 125G tank was too small) and I put her in a 40G with some featherfins

next day it was a death house, except for the Lophio.
I could see the dead fish were poisoned, the outstanding gills and odd coloration were obvious clues.

that is also a difference between cyclurus and brevispinis. brevispinis are fairly peaceful.
cyclurus are not; if a pair doesn't match, no amount of tankspace will save the smaller fish!

I went through 3 or 4 pairs before I could breed the cyclurus. and some fish were mauled to death. the level of intraspecies agression was not something I had anticipated.

[Richard B]

I think the different experiences quoted help to reinforce that with cyclurus, careful consideration needs to be given to the set-up & tankmates, particulalrly when keeping more than one individual.