Brochis Britski.

clothahump · Post by **clothahump** » 10 Feb 2003, 00:41

Just to show you they are still alive and doing well Ian.

Achim · Post by **Achim** » 13 Feb 2003, 14:12

Hi Tim,

beautiful Brochis

, but they aren't B. britskii. Your fish are B. splendes according to dorsal fin counts (12 branched rays if i count correct) and in overall habitus. There are a lot of B. splendens variants which will surly be split in several species sooner or later.
B. britskii has more dorsal fin branched rays and can be easily identified by the hobbyist by its reddish dorsal and caudal fins. Picture here.

Greetings... Achim

clothahump · Post by **clothahump** » 13 Feb 2003, 15:10

Look out now Achim, they came from Ian Fullers own collection and he told me they were Britski.

Achim · Post by **Achim** » 13 Feb 2003, 15:26

Hi Tim,

Look out now Achim, they came from Ian Fullers own collection and he told me they were Britski.

well then he was wrong this time ;)
Im curious what he is responding if he discovers this thread.
Im pretty sure yours are B. splendens because of the dorsal fin (Could you check how many branched rays? Im not sure if my counting of 12 from the photo is correct). There are a lot of "variations" of B. splendens which have to be scientificly processesed. I guess there will be several "new" species.
The fish on the photo i did is pretty sure B britskii, i checked rays and ventral plating. The overall look (very scientific i know

fits as well with the photos in the description. B. britskii has one large ventral plate that is unique to this species (at the moment...).

Achim

Post by **Coryman** » 13 Feb 2003, 20:49

To be honest when I obtained then they were put into quarentine and then later into a species stock tank which is where Tim saw them. I did have a pair of C. splendens in another tank. I did not not check ray counts or belly plates at the time as they came from a very reliable source. I don't have the C. splendens any more to check if I got them mixed up. This is a picture I took at the time when I aquired them.

Ian

Post by **Coryman** » 13 Feb 2003, 21:03

Achim

Looking at the pictures you could be right that they are not C. britskii

but I am also not so sure about them being C. splendens either. Looks like I will have to do a bit of checking with my supplier. I have not done much work with Brochis and I have probably got a bit complacent. That will certainly change!

Ian

König Löwe · Post by **König Löwe** » 13 Feb 2003, 21:16

Just wondering...

Ian: I see that you write C. britskii and C. splendes when referring to Brochis. Is there any special reason for this or do you just automatically write C. in front of every species name? ;)

Achim · Post by **Achim** » 13 Feb 2003, 21:41

Ian,

no big deal. I didn't want to attack your authority concerning Callichthyids ;), but just call attention to the fact that the determination is wrong.
Like i said before B. splendens is a "species group" that needs to be revised. But for now, we have to call that fish B. splendens or if you like B. cf. splendens. Your fish belongs to this "group"because it has 12 branched rays in the dorsal fin. The bigger Brochis species, B. multiradiatus and B. britskii have 15-18 branched rays in the dorsal fin.
"The real" B. britskii is a really different looking species compared to B. splendens. Very impressive fish with their size, bulkiness and the reddish unpaired fins. Btw, B. multiradiatus show those reddish caudal dorsal and anal fins too. A hint that it belongs in the same group as B. britskii. It is a very large Corydoradinae (over 12cm in females), probably the largest yet. I saw them some time ago at a wholesaler, but couldn't buy them because i hadn't a tank big enough to house them. Interestingly there are smaller Brochis with 12 or less branched dorsal fin rays that show a pointy snout similar to B. multiradiatus. I am pretty sure those are an undescribed species.

Achim

Post by **Coryman** » 13 Feb 2003, 23:34

König Löwe

My mistake

Long hard day and force of habit, I think a copuple of beers will sort me out

Ian

Post by **Coryman** » 13 Feb 2003, 23:40

Achim

No problem being picked up on a on the Brochis ID Unlike a good many if I get it wrong I am the first to hold my hands up. I have not had to much to do with Brochis although I have kept them off and nb for years. Maybe its time I concentrated on them a little more and maybe seriously try to breed them. Same goes for Aspidora.

Ian