Bichir Identification

[polypterus]

Anyone know what kind of bichir this is? I've had it for years and they sold it to me as a Congicus but now that I've seen pictures of Congicus I think it's something else. The one it back is a washed out P. Endlicheri. I know that much. I'm mainly interested in the one in the front. I think it might be a P. Bichir but I'm not sure.

http/i90.photobucket.com/albums/k241/bichir9/2Bichirs.jpg

 

[§tudz]

Anyone know what kind of bichir this is? I've had it for years and they sold it to me as a Congicus but now that I've seen pictures of Congicus I think it's something else. The one it back is a washed out P. Endlicheri. I know that much. I'm mainly interested in the one in the front. I think it might be a P. Bichir but I'm not sure.

http/i90.photobucket.com/albums/k241/bichir9/2Bichirs.jpg

Those are TWO amazing looking fish /me lubs them

That I think will be my next poly' tank

to me they look the same, except as you said the one in the back is washed out

 

[polypterus]

to me they look the same, except as you said the one in the back is washed out

Yeah they do kind of look the same especially in the pictures but the back one is a P. Endlicheri and has a much heavier body. You would notice it if you saw them live. My other Endlicheri has much darker stripes so it’s easier to tell he’s different.

 

[§tudz]

to me they look the same, except as you said the one in the back is washed out

Yeah they do kind of look the same especially in the pictures but the back one is a P. Endlicheri and has a much heavier body. You would notice it if you saw them live. My other Endlicheri has much darker stripes so it’s easier to tell he’s different.

have you check their anal fins? you may have a male and female

 

[polypterus]

have you check their anal fins? you may have a male and female

Yes, and I have both male and female Endlicheri but this fish is different. The Endlicheri all have 4 or 5 broad bands (cable or DSL ) that typically slant backwards from top to bottom. You can kind of see them in the back fish although they aren't real dark as in my other Endlicheri. Endlicheri is known as a saddled bichir for this reason. This fish has more bands with less space between them and it's also not nearly as fat. It's hard to tell in the picture because one fish covers the other. But all my endlicheri are on the fat side (relatively speaking) no matter if they are male or female. This fish is much more snake like and has a narrower head if you look at it from the top.

This isn't a great picture but here's a couple of stacked Endlicheri and you can see the stripes better.

http/i90.photobucket.com/albums/k241/bic...ckedBichirs.jpg

 

[§tudz]

have you had a look on this site, it may help


www.polypterus.info



in the original images
The one in the back is possibly Polypterus endlicheri congicus
Where as the foreground one may be Polypterus endlicheri endlicheri

 

[polypterus]

Yes I've been to that site but it doesn't have any pictures that help me.

 

[astroboy]

By looking at the first link i would say the back one is an endlicheir endlicheri and the front one is a p. bichir lapradei

 

[Rudy00]

curious, how big are those two polypterus'? and i like the stone heads you have there, nice touch