Farlowellas

[N2Biomes]

I have a quick question about Farlowellas. Most of my animals have very short caudal fins, with perhaps a small extension on the dorsal aspect. One of them that I believe is an adult female, has very long extensions, perhaps an inch or a bit more, both dorsal and ventral aspects. There are 7 fish, 2 adult females, 1 adult male, the rest are smaller. All were purchased at the same time at the same LFS, so I expect they are all the same species. Most photos I can find here and at other sites don't show the entire length of these elongated fish, so I can't tell if they have these extended filaments or not.

Do different Farlowella species have different caudal fin configurations, or will the extensions on the other fish grow out as well?

TIA!

[DutchFry]

maybe this is a stupid question, so please ignore if so, but are you sure there isn't a Sturisoma or someting like that in the group?

[N2Biomes]

I don't think these fish are Sturisoma. I tried to get a clear photo of two females, but they came out quite fuzzy.

http://www.plecofanatics.com/gallery/di ... geid=26636

I also realize I should have posted this in the "What's my Catfish" forum, sorry.

[racoll]

No guarantee that fish in the same shipment are the same species. They can get consolidated at the exporters facility.

However, mature dominant fish may be in better condition and have longer extensions.

For reference, my F. vittata has a 1.5cm [dorsal only] caudal extension.

EDIT: The above fish is a male.

[N2Biomes]

Thank you Racoll for your reply. I realize there is often confusion surrounding many species. My question stems from the fact that these fish have had a spawn in another tank which the male ate, so I moved all of them into another tank, one with plenty of algae and more current. They have been quite active in this new tank, even during the day. Do Farlows, like other Loris, cross-breed and are the offspring viable? I don't want to find myself in that type of situation, since I don't espouse hybridization.

[racoll]

Do Farlows, like other Loris, cross-breed and are the offspring viable?

Probably, and I imagine closely related species (i.e. in the same species group - lineage) will be much more likely to than those less related.

Yours look they they could be

Farlowella mariaelenae

with the thin rostra. Get some pictures of the belly and see if the scutes match.

[N2Biomes]

There are only 2 rows of belly scutes on these Farlowellas. Perhaps they are Farlowella cf. vittata? The data sheet at http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/sp ... es_id=1316 says
"This species looks most like F. vittata, it has two (as opposed to three) columns of belly plates but the rostrum appears too long. It is labelled as F. cf. vittata as this is a widespread species with quite a few synonyms that shows some variation in sizes across its range."

[Shane]

The length of the caudal fin extensions varies greatly between individuals. What other fishes are in the tank? Many tankmates will nip at the filaments, especially of less dominant fishes.
-Shane

[racoll]

Perhaps they are Farlowella cf. vittata?

I think you are right.

Farlowella cf_vittata

is a good temporary ID. More information such as the locality might narrow it down a bit.

[N2Biomes]

The length of the caudal fin extensions varies greatly between individuals. What other fishes are in the tank? Many tankmates will nip at the filaments, especially of less dominant fishes.
-Shane

Shane, other than the Farlows, there are 3 otos, and a trio of C. metae. In their previous tank were a pair of Bolivian rams. I moved the Farlows to their new tank when I noticed one female looking gravid. Perhaps it was the rams being nippy. Hopefully in this calmer tank, the filaments will lengthen.

[ashik]

I have 2 farowellas, not entirely sure of the species after this thread, but they both also have long (~2 cm) extensions on their fins also.