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i bought a couple of each of what my LFS calls otocinlus niger, and otocinclus arnoldi (regular oto, it said). are these correct names. She thought that maybe the niger had a new classification taking it out of the otocinclus family but the name "oto" just stuck. any clues on my fish?

Otocinclus niger is the trade name for Hisonotus leucofrenatus.

thanks. what about the arnoldi?

Otocinclus arnoldi is actually a junior synonym of O. flexilis (which is not your regular oto), but the name is often misapplied to any one of the striped Otocinclus species (usually O. vittatus).

thanks alot silurus! are these two not in the cat-e-log? by the two i mean, hisontus leucofrenatus and otocinclus flexilis... and to expose my ignorance.... what is a "junior synonym" of a species? I'll try to snap some pics today. thanks.

The two are not in the Cat-eLog because Jools either has no picture of them (maybe you'd like to contribute?), or has the pics but has not had the time to put them up.

For a definition of a junior synonym, read this.

i'd be more than happy to contribute. what's the best method of getting them to the correct person. i took some ok pics of both yesterday and will get good ones tonight with better camera.

Just email them to Jools. But remember, he has plenty of pics of the striped otos (which are not easy to identify accurately from photographs anyway). The Hisonotus will be a more valuable contribution, I feel.