Catfish ID needed - PIC INCLUDED !

[Bloo]

I bought a couple of these lovely fish a few weeks ago (pic now included) and the are currently approx 3" though there were some 5" specimens in the tank too and they looked exactly the same - just larger of course.

Anyway my question is this: I bought them as L183 but mine definitely do not have a white dorsal fin band and tail tip band. And none in the tank had any either - even the larger (as well as smaller) specimens. They look quite similar otherwise - very very fine (almost ICH-like) white spots covering the entire fish. The female has a nice set of fine short bristles and the male quite a nice set and mohawks style bristles ! lol

What are they really ?

Anyone any ideas ? I'll try to get some pics, but they tend to hide a fair bit, though not quite as much as some of my other cats.

Female

 

[smithrc]

sound like the same fish we bought.. - claiming to be L183's

ours are actually L180's Roundmouth plecs.
we got 3 - 2 males and a female with the intent of breeding them - guess which one died on us while we were on holiday (yep the male)

The store we got them from had some in last weekend but at a lot higher price.
Still have the chanve to get another male posted to us though.

Do they have gold 'trim' on their eyes and white tips to their tails?
black & Grey motteled colouring with the tiny white speckles?

anyway - here are some piccys...

(one at the moment - I'll add some better ones - I've just got to find them)

 

[Bloo]

I'll defnitely try to get pics tonight (even if I have to take one out and put it in a bowl) and though your fish is close, they don't seem quite the same. Mine are very black with the fine white dots. No white rims on tail or dorsal fins at all....

So sorry to hear your male died - it's gutting....

 

[smithrc]

I'll try and get a better piccy - the only look mottled when i'm taking pictures

I know I've got a good one somewhere - I know what it looks like and everything - just cant find it... hmm might be on the camera still...

Here they are - still on the memory card...

 

[Bloo]

That mottled thing - I've realised some of them do it sometimes. At first I though some of my plecs has columnaris but then noticed that a number of them tend to do this on and off. Must be a camoflage thing perhaps

 

[Bloo]

Thanks - I've now added mine too. What do you think ?

Similar ? Mine just doesn't have the white band on the tail (not clear in the pic I know).

If not exactly the same I would say closely related.

 

[a.d.wood]

@smithrc > given the size of the dorsal fin and the seam on the caudal fin, possibly more likely to be L183. from the images I have of L180, I would expect a much smaller dorsal and no white seams on the caudal fin.

Andrew

 

[smithrc]

Hi andrew...

The 183's I'm refering to look like this...
Planet Catfish Link to 183's

actually... looking at picture 11 of 13... i was told they loose their seam as they get older...

 

[Bloo]

Well some of those under L183 on PlanetCatfish look pretty big to me and they have a very clear white band on the dorsal and tail. Look at mine - it has none whatsoever and it's approx 3" ? The lip also looks very different

 

[smithrc]

Well some of those under L183 on PlanetCatfish look pretty big to me and they have a very clear white band on the dorsal and tail. Look at mine - it has none whatsoever and it's approx 3" ? The lip also looks very different

I'm pretty sure they are L180's but there is not much info out there...

 

[a.d.wood]

Hi folks,

I was going from the images in the latest edition of the 'L number' aqualog.

Seems to be fairly common that plecs lose coloured seams/edges on the fins as they mature, was certainly the case with my L264's.

One thing I noticed the images on the website show the spots as rather larger more independant spots, whereas the images in the aqualog (and above) look more like something you get when you have been painting with emulsion paint (but this is probably age dependant too!!!).

From what I have access to , L180 and L183 look like very similar fish, the main distinguishing feature is L180 has no white edges/seams while L183 does. But if they do lose the seams as they age (more than likely), then.............

The wonderful world of plec identification, almost as much fun as apistogramma identification

Andrew

 

[Bloo]

Thanks guys. From that info I will take it that mine are more likely to be L180 's ........

 

[smithrc]

tell you what - I'll get a male and breed them - that'll ID ours (as we'll have little ones with or without seams

 

[Bloo]

And perhaps mine will breed too ! They're sure big enough - and then we can compare notes

Good luck in finding a male. Perhaps you can ask the shop you got them from previously. I know there are still a few nice sized males left of the same kind I have (here in London) but it might be a tad far for you and they might not even be exactly the same fish.

 

[smithrc]

Its a long story - but we got these from a shop 300 miles away

At the time AndyJ (on here) lived down in devon and knew we were looking for some and the price was too good to turn down.

We were down there this weekend and the shop has some more in (now selling as L180s) but the price was a LOT more. They had males but we had no tank to keep them in this time and were statying over night... blah blah.

Might get one shipped up