About C numbers and how we can interact with them
Posted: 21 Sep 2014, 23:56
Hi All,
I'm relatively new here, and so this question may have been asked before: Is there a resource we can access that describes the various C number corys, and which provides information about why a particular C number was created?
I've tried to read up on the C numbers at several websites; I understand why C numbers exist, that C number fish may be new spp. or may belong to existing spp., but they've simply not yet been classified as such. I've also read that the C numbers depend somewhat heavily on specific capture locality info (imagine a new fish that resembles an already defined species, but it was captured outside the scientifically recognized boundaries of the know species, so we give it a C number until the issue is resolved), even though that alone is not the extent of what a C number designation includes.
I've also read that the C number system is not meant to be a "scientific" species description. And yet, I can't imagine that a fish could be given a new C number, suggesting that it might be something novel, without the original author including some details about anatomy (SVL, # rays in a fin, body dimension ratios, and the like) for others to interact with later: If by chance another person obtains a similar fish - Should that person give it a new C number or conclude that it is another specimen of a pre-existing C number?
Specifically, I'd like to know if there is a way for people who purchase "unknown" fish at a LFS (which most likely don't have locality info) to look up the C numbers for this additional info - essentially, to be able to read the original descriptions/details of each C number, to more fully compare their unknown fish to the type specimens (I use that language loosely, since as I understand them, there aren't type specimens for the C numbers on reserve in some official museum, etc.), in order to aid the fish keeper in understanding what kind of fish they have?
I ask because I recently posted (http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... 13&t=40936a photo of a new catfish I bought in a LFS. From the feedback I received, I am reasonably satisfied that my fish is probably , although I still have a grain of uncertainty (not because I suspect it's something else, but because I'd like to have stronger grounds on which to anchor my conclusions). To that end, the descriptions of c141 that I find at PC and at other catfish websites don't include any information unique to c141, to distinguish it from other known spp. or from other C numbers.
Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated!
- Eric (Bekateen)
P.S., Unrelated to my question above, how are C numbers different from CW numbers?
I'm relatively new here, and so this question may have been asked before: Is there a resource we can access that describes the various C number corys, and which provides information about why a particular C number was created?
I've tried to read up on the C numbers at several websites; I understand why C numbers exist, that C number fish may be new spp. or may belong to existing spp., but they've simply not yet been classified as such. I've also read that the C numbers depend somewhat heavily on specific capture locality info (imagine a new fish that resembles an already defined species, but it was captured outside the scientifically recognized boundaries of the know species, so we give it a C number until the issue is resolved), even though that alone is not the extent of what a C number designation includes.
I've also read that the C number system is not meant to be a "scientific" species description. And yet, I can't imagine that a fish could be given a new C number, suggesting that it might be something novel, without the original author including some details about anatomy (SVL, # rays in a fin, body dimension ratios, and the like) for others to interact with later: If by chance another person obtains a similar fish - Should that person give it a new C number or conclude that it is another specimen of a pre-existing C number?
Specifically, I'd like to know if there is a way for people who purchase "unknown" fish at a LFS (which most likely don't have locality info) to look up the C numbers for this additional info - essentially, to be able to read the original descriptions/details of each C number, to more fully compare their unknown fish to the type specimens (I use that language loosely, since as I understand them, there aren't type specimens for the C numbers on reserve in some official museum, etc.), in order to aid the fish keeper in understanding what kind of fish they have?
I ask because I recently posted (http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... 13&t=40936a photo of a new catfish I bought in a LFS. From the feedback I received, I am reasonably satisfied that my fish is probably , although I still have a grain of uncertainty (not because I suspect it's something else, but because I'd like to have stronger grounds on which to anchor my conclusions). To that end, the descriptions of c141 that I find at PC and at other catfish websites don't include any information unique to c141, to distinguish it from other known spp. or from other C numbers.
Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated!
- Eric (Bekateen)
P.S., Unrelated to my question above, how are C numbers different from CW numbers?