What was once a barbatus, now is what?

[jcorey]

Long ago I saw some gorgeous cories at a reputable fish shop while I was out of town for a club auction. They were labeled as Bearded Cory, Scleromystax Barbatus. At that point I hadn't seen any other barbatus in person, so that's what I've called them. Then I later picked up some young barbatus at another auction and they were nothing like these fish. I figured maybe it was because they were much younger and smaller. I'm sure they'll turn into these other awesome fish when they get older.



Now they are all older. The young ones were spotted spawning a few days ago, yet they still look just the same as when I got them (the mottled brown, typical barbatus as all the images here show). Now I'm left wondering what the heck these other things are so I can get more (one died a few weeks ago). These guys hide 99.9999% of the time. They will dig under large plants like swords or driftwood to give themselves a pit to hide in. They'll squeeze behind the sponge on my canister intake line. This one is 2.5 inches long. I found my other one, and it is a bit longer, 3 inches, but much fatter so I'm guessing it's a female. The first ray or two of the dorsal are extended a lot. When they're not stressed for a photo shoot like this, the stripes are black and grey.

Any ideas?

[Jools]

Synodontis decorus

.

Jools

[jcorey]

Hmm, I do believe that is so. That's certainly more than I bargained for originally. It'll be interesting watching them grow up.

[jodilynn]

Oh Lord I almost choked when I saw that pic! My fish is damn near 10 inches long and an absolute beast! Definitely NOT the fish you were told it was!