What African glass catfish is this?

lucretius · Post by **lucretius** » 08 Dec 2011, 18:24

It is about 2.5 inches (6.35 cm) long.

sidguppy · Post by **sidguppy** » 08 Dec 2011, 18:49

this is not an African, but an Asian Glass catfish;

lucretius · Post by **lucretius** » 09 Dec 2011, 15:44

Thanks very much.

Though If it is asian I wonder how it came in a shipment the dealer received from Africa?

nvcichlids · Post by **nvcichlids** » 09 Dec 2011, 16:42

i am just going to throw the idea out there and explain where I got to the idea.

I searched in the common names for African Glass Catfish and got . There are no spots in the pictures in the catelog so I search of others within the family that have spots. appears to be the only one spotted and similar.

I am no expert about these and just wanted to explain how I came to my conclusion.

EDIT: I like Sid's ID'ing skills, but the thought of it being in an african shipment would make me think that it should be of african origin. I do not mean to offend you Sid or take anything away from you.

sidguppy · Post by **sidguppy** » 09 Dec 2011, 19:51

I'm not offended when proved wrong
;)

but I still think this is a Kryptopterus which had the barbels removed, likely because it was housed with unsuitable companions.

as for this:

Though If it is asian I wonder how it came in a shipment the dealer received from Africa?

I've seen dealers telling the weirdest things

like wildcaught Tzechian hybrids from the Congo and even more odd things; sticking to whatever it is they're telling like glue.

so I tend to take whatever any dealer says with a few kilograms of salt; unless it's someone i know with a log history of being trustworthy.

check the pattern!

Parailia is translucent with a smattering of fine dark point

Kryptopterus is marbled like hammerite paint; not translucent with fine black spots.

also: the head of the fish is too big for Paraila and the mouth has the wrong shape

and in parailia the whiskers are far more obvious; it has 8 instead of just 2

unblinded · Post by **unblinded** » 09 Dec 2011, 20:05

Have to agree with Sid on this-the description & photos are spot on for Kryptopterus macrocephalus.

nvcichlids · Post by **nvcichlids** » 10 Dec 2011, 04:51

unblinded wrote:Have to agree with Sid on this-the description & photos are spot on for Kryptopterus macrocephalus.

ok, points taken and i overlooked this

"Easily distinguished from the Glass Catfish (K. minor) in having a more translucent body with either a striped or a mottled pattern and larger size."

Had I not over looked that or actually looked through all pictures blown up.. I wouldn't have had any second guesses

Nice id Sid

Mike_Noren · Post by **Mike_Noren** » 10 Dec 2011, 10:49

As an aside, is there reason to think that the marbled and the striped K. macrocephalus are actually one and the same species? Or is this yet another case of pigmentation being ignored as diagnostic character separating two "cryptic" species?

racoll · Post by **racoll** » 10 Dec 2011, 11:06

Mike Noren wrote:is there reason to think that the marbled and the striped K. macrocephalus are actually one and the same species?

Take a look at viewtopic.php?f=13&t=33993.

Silurus wrote: AFAIK, there are only two forms: striped (all of the “transparent” ones are striped forms with faded/indistinct stripes) and mottled. Some are more yellowish than others (I find that freshly-caught fish from backwater habitats tend to be like this).

Mike_Noren · Post by **Mike_Noren** » 10 Dec 2011, 13:10

racoll wrote:
Silurus wrote: AFAIK, there are only two forms: striped (all of the “transparent” ones are striped forms with faded/indistinct stripes) and mottled. Some are more yellowish than others (I find that freshly-caught fish from backwater habitats tend to be like this).

So either mottled or striped, never in between. It might still be one single species, there are known cases where competing distinct and selectively neutral pigmentation patterns are maintained in species (although I can't think of any examples right now, maybe garter snakes?). It would be interesting to know if there's any geographical pattern to the distribution of the two purported morphs.

Post by **Silurus** » 10 Dec 2011, 13:12

Mike_Noren wrote:It would be interesting to know if there's any geographical pattern to the distribution of the two purported morphs.

Nope, they occur syntopically. I tried to find differences between the two (apart from color) and gave up. I am also not convinced that individuals cannot switch between the two color forms at any point in their lives.

racoll · Post by **racoll** » 10 Dec 2011, 22:14

Mike Noren wrote:there are known cases where competing distinct and selectively neutral pigmentation patterns are maintained in species

I think this is often the case with mbuna, with the different blotch morphs.

Silurus wrote:Nope, they occur syntopically. I tried to find differences between the two (apart from color) and gave up. I am also not convinced that individuals cannot switch between the two color forms at any point in their lives.

Interesting. Sequencing a few individuals from the same locality might tell you if there was much gene flow between the two phenotypes.

Post by **Birger** » 10 Dec 2011, 22:25

Mike Noren wrote:there are known cases where competing distinct and selectively neutral pigmentation patterns are maintained in species

I think this is often the case with mbuna, with the different blotch morphs.

Tanganyikan Cyprichromis as well if I remember correctly.

Birger

Bas Pels · Post by **Bas Pels** » 11 Dec 2011, 09:46

lucretius wrote:Though If it is asian I wonder how it came in a shipment the dealer received from Africa?

Apart from the explanation Sid provided - which I think will have a good chance of being true, it could also be the fish was overlooked by the importer - and the tank thought empty and than refilled with another species.

I'm quite certain exporters mess populations up this way, and I would not dare guessing importers are much better - especially considering the darness in their tanks.

So the importer can be wrong, not because he is lying, but because he messed things up

What African glass catfish is this?

What African glass catfish is this?

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