The two males each now have a bubblenest under patches of styrofoam, with eggs from any of the three females. these five are the last of the remaining offspring we have (me and a friend share fish); the wildcaught parents are long gone.
So are their over one 100 or so siblings; twenty died in a bad Dutch LFS (the only one who would take catfish, Dutch LFS being completely allergic to anything non-pleco, or non-cory), the remaining, minus five, were taken to the UK, years ago, by people visiting Holland. Those people had a strong connection with the, now gone but then alive and kicking; British Catfish Association. Whatever happened to those people or the 80 or so young Hoplo's is unknown to me. my best riend kept the remaining five in a catfishcommunity-tank ever since. They started breeding attempts in early October, but he hasn't got place for breedingtanks; so now they reside at my place for the time being.
The catfish in question looks a wee bit like a miniaturized Hoplosternum littorale (8-9 cm), but even more like someone managed to crossbreed Dianema longibarbis with Lepthoplosternum pectorale!
unlike the littorale, this species rarely digs. They have a more plump shape and a very conspicious fine speckle-pattern on the whole of the body INCLUDING ALL FINS. The whiskers are thin and short, not long and thick like H littorale. Also; male and female are equal in size. the fins are grey, spotted, but transparent as well; thus different from H littorale. The males' pectorals are longer, but almost straight, without curls or orange coloration. The eyes are small like pectorale's, not big like Dianema's. The points of the tailfin are blunt, unlike the tailfin of H littorale. Actually the shape of the tailfin resembles the tailfin of a common goldfish or one of those tropical Barbus-species more than the tailfin of either Dianema or H littorale. It is a secretive, peaceful fish, that likes to rest on wood or plants; they prefer this to resting on the sand. They're VERY nocturnal, the spawning always takes place in the dark of night, although I've spawned the parents many times (only once managed to raise the young, hence the F1's) I've never caught them in the act.
the name Shirui: this name is mentioned as "a species that was once considered synonym with littorale, but now considered valid" (source Dr Warren E Burgess; Atlas of Freshwater and Marine Catfishes p332)
unfortunately there's no picture, but this name was the most likely we encountered years ago; when trying to indentify this rare fish.
Pics will be posted soon, as soon as I can surprise them (quality will be a lucky shot...)
but any info from someone who:
-was in Beek en Donk (Netherlands) years ago, at the "Tropifish" firm (ex/importer who sadly left the business) which was Ton kooijmans'.
-was one of the connections of the BCA back then, and/or had -like us back then- ties with Dr Isaac Isbrucker or Dr Mees
-simply knows wich species this is (!)
-or-even better- managed to get some of my former Hoplo's and still has them!
All feedback greatly appreciated
SG
, just saw the raw footage and it looks great. I decided to register on Planet Catfish, might acually learn something. Those baby Hoplo's are cute don't you think?