Unidentified Lamontichthys

[ggermeau]

Hi,
I've found this catfish in a group of Lamontichthys llanero. The pattern is completely different from the others... like spotted... I haven't found anything looking similar... New species ? Mutant ?

[Jools]

I don't think it's a species of

Lamontichthys

because of fimbriations on the suckermouth. That'd mean

Rineloricaria

and it puts me in mind of

Rineloricaria lanceolata

of which there are many regional variations - I can't recall any with such well-defined spots on the head mind you. The first job is to find out if described species of this genus live alongside L. llanero (or L. stibaros) and see if they are similar.

Could we get a closer picture of the belly and mouth?

Cheers,

Jools

[Shane]

It's possible it is a contaminant caught alongside L. llanero. It is also possible it became a contaminant somewhere in the shipping process. Once a holding tank is down to a couple specimens, it is common for new shipments to be dumped in with them (even exporters need more tanks), especially if they look similar to the untrained eye or if they ship for the same price. This happens frequently in shipments of wild "common" plecos, Otos, and Farlowella for example.
-Shane

[bekateen]

A similar fish that can have spotting on its head (although not so well defined) is

Rineloricaria heteroptera

. For example, take a look at this photo:

https://www.planetcatfish.com/common/im ... e_id=22299

The distribution would not be right if your fish is really from the Orinoco, but as Shane said, fish can get mixed together from different sources. Also, given how variable

Rineloricaria lanceolata

is, and not knowing exactly the dependable traits therefore to discriminate it from R. heteroptera, do we know that R. heteroptera is not more widely distributed that we present in the CLOG?

Cheers, Eric

[ggermeau]

Here are few more pics... Doesn't look like a Rineloricaria to me ! But netheir like a Lamontichthys... I have really no idea !

[Shane]

Very interesting. Looks more like a Sturisoma type in these photos, but not any species I have ever collected alongside L. llanero. Need to get Norman's opinion.
-Shane

[Jools]

@craft - what do you think? I will ask "Norrie" too.

No matter what it is, I would like to add this to the cat-elog.

Jools

[bekateen]

Here are few more pics...

Still looks like Rineloricaria to me, but which one I have no further clue.

Beautiful fish!

Cheers, Eric

[bekateen]

Looking more into

Rineloricaria heteroptera

(or maybe a R. cf. heteroptera look-alike), I found these photos on the Aquarium Glaser website.

Keep in mind a few things:

1. Your fish doesn't look exactly like the Aquarium Glaser photos.
2. Aquarium Glaser doesn't always have its ID right either.
3. If your fish is really from Venezuela and Colombia (as would be
   Lamontichthys llanero
   , that is a stretch for R. heteroptera. However, GBIF has cataloged museum specimens from the same Venezuela/Colombia area identified as R. heteroptera (see green circle on map here, where both species have been collected together)... These could be incorrect ID's, but it affirms the presence of a R. cf. (or aff.) heteroptera like fish along the Orinoco.

[Jools]

Had a chat with Norrie, he was suggesting a phenotype of R. lanceolata on shape.

Grégoire - do you still own aquamiror? Apologies if I've got mixed up - but I wonder if you know how this fish was exported. i.e. Direct from exporter or via an importer.

Cheers,

Jools

[ggermeau]

Hi !
Thanks for all those informations !
Indeed, I still own Aquamiroir in Brussels. I went to Ruinemans to pic some fishes, it is always better to have them in sight for a better choice... By looking the aquarium where were stocked a group of Lamontichthys llanero, I've seen this one, totally different from the other fishes of the tank. They have no idea from where it came from, but they assumed that it was in the box labelled as L. llanero, and nobody has noticed it before I came. I was therefore quite lucky on this !

[Jools]

Well, it's a different looking one for sure. I've added it as

Rineloricaria sp(8)

for now. Any more pics would be welcome.

Cheers,

Jools

[racoll]

Looks similar to this one I got from Upper Rio Negro:

[Jools]

It does, it does. These guys are the bronze corys of the whiptail world.

The key really is where it the first fish came from and we can't be certain. Having worked in wholesale for a short while, I know it is rare for a tank not to get cleared before a new import comes in. But you could easily imagine that one fish hides and so gets mixed up. The chances of it being the prettiest example of a species complex I've seen in 35+ years of fishkeeping less so. But we can't be sure, probably it came in with the

Lamontichthys

(I have picked out cool

Spatuloricaria

pictured in the catelog from exactly these imports) or perhaps it was lurking in the tank from a prior export.

Rupert, I wonder what I should do with the one from the Rio Negro? Do you consider this R. lanceolata?



Jools