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I have a pair of catfish I would like to know what species they are.

They were labeled as Sturisoma panamense, but am reading they are rarely if ever imported to US.

What photos are needed to narrow the species down?

Thanks!

Hi Tucker,

Minimally it helps to see clear, focused images of side view of head with dorsal fin flared, side view of tail flared, ventral view of abdominal plates, dorsal view of whole body with pectoral fins clear.

We can get informed ideas with that, but even with good photos, sometimes a proper ID can't be made without knowing as much as possible about original collection site.

Cheers, Eric

I'm no photography expert by any stretch. Here are the best of what I could gather.

For future pics, I have cleaned the aquarium glass with alcohol.

To my surprise, I now see 12 eggs the male is guarding. Tankmates are South American tetras.

As for collection location, it is unknown. Five of them came in as contaminates in an Amazon basin import, in a bag of hundreds of "common otos."

Five more pics. ALL are of the male except the full-body view (last one in prior post) which is the female.

From the abdominal photo, I can at least confirm it's and not . Sturisoma has the medial abdominal plates arranged in three rather obvious rows. Sturisomatichthys has its abdominal plates arranged more randomly, so that the plates don't make three obvious lines. That's what I see in your photo.

Sadly, I'm not good at ID'ing these beyond genus. Hopefully someone else can add info.

P.S., Good on you for spawning them. That's terrific!

Thanks @bekateen - much appreciated. Every clue helps!

Been breeding and raising Farlowella vittata for a few years so hoping can raise these.

I love to see a species reproduce in captivity; to me ir means I am providing a good environment for them.

Tucker wrote: 04 Sep 2023, 20:44I love to see a species reproduce in captivity; to me ir means I am providing a good environment for them.

I feel exactly the same. Good luck!

Looks like eggs are fertile woot!

Yes. I see little embryos are forming.

Cheers, Eric

Sturisomatichthys panamense perhaps? Hrmmmm...

Close to hatching I think!

Does anyone know where I could find reference material to determine species? I doubt they are the critically endangered fish as sold.

Two becomes 14. FISH-MATH.

Nice. What are you feeding them? Have you checked out this thread? https://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/vie ... hp?t=51546

Cheers,
Eric

Same thing as when I raise Farlowella vittata fry: Bacter AE and Spirulina powder, Nori sheets, zucchini, and stones and driftwood chunks with algae anf biofilm growing on it.

Likely not Sturisomatichthys panamense per Jools information in the above post.

Had a pair. Then 12 fry.

Now 36 eggs laid last night.

Congratulations!

Congrats! Must be very exciting haha

Over 4x the size since hatching.

Looking good! How is your survival rate?

Cheers, Eric

1 was staying curled and died at about 17 hours post-hatching. No losses since.

Guess I'll never know what they are.

Pics of unknown Sturisomatichthys species (44 days old) with Farlowella vittata fry (48 days old(.

Tucker wrote: 03 Nov 2023, 01:31 Guess I'll never know what they are.

Probably .

Jools

Thanks Jools!!