An Illustrated Article to the Bichir - Folio #1

[Deleted member 149562]

Bichir's remind me of the Platypus

An animal that has not quite made up its mind what it wants to be, so went for a little bit of everything

 

[I Like Rare Fish]

Fish, lizard, snake…. My Mokelembembe, pictured above, ‘crawls’ with his fins like a sea turtle on land. It’s really special and cool to watch. I’ll get a video once he’s used to the tank.

 

[Deleted member 149562]

Fish, lizard, snake…. My Mokelembembe, pictured above, ‘crawls’ with his fins like a sea turtle on land. It’s really special and cool to watch. I’ll get a video once he’s used to the tank.

Nature throws up some fascinating creatures sometimes

 

[lnsaneM]

I have a few baby bichirs and this info is really useful

 

[I Like Rare Fish]

Nice! What kind?

 

[lnsaneM]

Here are the pics, I’m not too good with identifying them, I have 2 of the Delhezi in the second pic and the first pic it appears to be a blueish/grayish body with a white belly. And the last one is hiding I can’t really get a good pic of him, he’s almost black with many spots throughout his body.

 

[I Like Rare Fish]

Can’t see much of them. Better with light. You saw my del.

 

[lnsaneM]

I'll try to get some better pics, but they are all hiding now...

 

[lnsaneM]

Here are the two I couldn't identify, please help me with these

 

[I Like Rare Fish]

P Ornatippinis is the first one. The second looks a bit off to be a Delhezi. Maybe an endli. With a lighter substrate it makes it more difficult to tell. What was it sold to you as?

 

[lnsaneM]

P Ornatippinis is the first one. The second looks a bit off to be a Delhezi. Maybe an endli. With a lighter substrate it makes it more difficult to tell. What was it sold to you as?

Yeah, he has a blueish body with a white belly as far as I can tell

 

[lnsaneM]

I think I just found out which bichir I have after browsing through this website, it is called the Gold Dust Bichir

Gold Dust Bichir (Polypterus palmas "buettikoferi")

The Gold Dust or Buettikofer's Bichir is considered to be a color variant of the Palmas Bichir (P. palmas) easily distinguished from the latter by its unique pattern of gold spots and spangles. Found in relatively quiet blackwater habitat throughout West Africa, they are hardy and undemanding...

www.aqua-imports.com

 

[I Like Rare Fish]

I think I just found out which bichir I have after browsing through this website, it is called the Gold Dust Bichir

Gold Dust Bichir (Polypterus palmas "buettikoferi")

The Gold Dust or Buettikofer's Bichir is considered to be a color variant of the Palmas Bichir (P. palmas) easily distinguished from the latter by its unique pattern of gold spots and spangles. Found in relatively quiet blackwater habitat throughout West Africa, they are hardy and undemanding...

www.aqua-imports.com

This is my palmas. P Palmas and P buettikoferi were classified recently as the same species, but bichir enthusiasts call them P Palmas Palmas and P palmas buettikoferi. They are the same species genetically, but look slightly different.

 

[lnsaneM]

I'm not too good with identifying them, it looks like the one on their website so I'm going with it. And I definitely have one of each; the P buettikofer and P Palmas, just a tad too small for now. But regardless, they are cool fish. I don't have them in a species only tank so I have to hand feed them with tongs (they do eat kind of slow compared to the other fish I have in the tank).

 

[lnsaneM]

He is about 3.5 to 4 inches, is he short-bodied or is he just kind of fat?