Did you know fantastic help is an anagram of Planet Catfish? This forum is for those of you with pictures of your catfish who are looking for help identifying them. There are many here to help and a firm ID is the first step towards keeping your catfish in the best conditions.
Not the worlds best photo but I imagine it might be sufficient. i can try and get more photos, but what could we assume him to be?
He was sold as a medusa pleco, the ranunculus type. True? False?
I didn't pay much for him, but would love to know. What kind of photos might help more? Top down? for some reason my camera wont focus on him where he is, but I don't want to move him too much as a new addition.
I've begun to wonder if exporters ever send any females since the "Medusa Effect' is only possible by only selling the males.
Larry,
Collectors often are paid less, or even not at all, for females because they are not "bushynose" plecos.
-Shane
"My journey is at an end and the tale is told. The reader who has followed so faithfully and so far, they have the right to ask, what do I bring back? It can be summed up in three words. Concentrate upon Uganda."
Winston Churchill, My African Journey
Are you saying that females have absolutely no bristles at all? Not even along the lip?
It varies from sp to sp with the females of some having tentacles along the outer edge of the rostrum and others showing no tentacle growth at all. Either way, collectors are often only paid for large males with a full growth of tentacles. The problem really originates with middlemen who are told to acquire "bushynose" plecos from collectors. They are therefore not paying for an individual fish that does not have a bushynose, since their list says specifically "bushynose." Local collectors are likely very aware of the differences between males and females. Middlemen and exporters may not or may think that importers will demand a refund for the specimens that do not have tentacles.
-Shane
"My journey is at an end and the tale is told. The reader who has followed so faithfully and so far, they have the right to ask, what do I bring back? It can be summed up in three words. Concentrate upon Uganda."
Winston Churchill, My African Journey
The odontodes on mine have turned a glittery gold on the pectoral and dorsal fins. Probably 10X as much as the orange showing in the pic above. Could this possibly be breeding colors? I didn't want to disturb the fish if they are getting ready to spawn. But I'll try to get pics, when I can.
I apologise for the crappy pic, but this is setup as a breeding tank...and I don't want to disturb the fish. The gold color was twice as bright before...and was also on the odontodes of the pectoral fins. Could this be spawning colors?
