Euchilichthys vs. Atopochilus species

[amiidae]

Hi guys,

May I know what is/are the key diff. between Euchilichthys species vs. Atopochilus species for fishes that come from Congo.

Thanks

ben

[amiidae]

Imported as Atopochilus sp. Any opinion on the ID ? Thanks.

[Richard B]

Euchilichthys

maybe

Euchilichthys royauxi

Atopochilus tend to be deeper bodied (and more scarce in imports)

[amiidae]

Looks like it. btw, this fish is abt 5in TL. any second opinion ?

[Silurus]

Or

Euchilichthys guentheri

.

Can't tell these damned things apart anyway.

[amiidae]

Can't tell these damned things apart anyway.

btw, this is the same fish posted earlier.


Here is another one.

[Silurus]

FWIW, this looks like the same fish that I had previously kept and photographed for the Cat-eLog (now listed as

Euchilichthys cf_astatodon

).

[amiidae]

May I know what sort of habitat do they come from ?

[Silurus]

Typically fast-flowing rivers with a rocky substrate, I think.

[Jools]

I have some too, with Chiloglanis in the mix. It seems Chiloglanis more readily eat meaty food and these guys are algae munchers. What else they need, and I think they do need something else, I've not figured out yet!

Jools

[amiidae]

Thanks for the input. I think they are pretty much like hillstream loach. Will observe how they fair in my tank with good aeration and water flow .

[senil]

Frankly speaking, I liked both species though I thought that the Euchilichthys species were cuter – but what’s keeping you from getting both the species – there seem to be hardly any difference between the two!! I would go in for both if they can be put together without harming each other!!

[sidguppy]

better not, unless you have a larger tank

these "sucker Mochokids" are very territorial to similar looking catfishes; the Euchilichthys species are much larger and even more aggressive than the smaller Chiloglanis.

you can spread this aggression by keeping a group (at least 5 or even more) of same-sized fishes, preferably of a single species and making sure that there are adequate hiding spaces and also plenty grazing spots in the current

personally I wouldn't do it; Chiloglanis and Euchilichthys in 1 tank.

[Jools]

Note that senil has had two warnings for trivial posting. They're also not posting from where it says in their location. Unless we see some sensible posts soon, I think we can assume their posts are spam. One more odd/trivial post and it'll be a ban.

Jools

[Richard B]

Just to echo Sid's point, Euchilichthys , once established can be extremely territorial & aggressive within a species group - even in larger tanks