Algae
eaters from Africa? Hardly ever are such fish available in the trade,
despite the fact that there does a high number of species exist.
Currently we have two species of African Labeo in stock. There is no
doubt that Labeo parvus is the better algae eater of the two. It looks
astonishing similar to the Asian species of Garra, Epalzeorhynchus,
Gyrinocheilus etc.. It is said that the species attains a maximum length
of 40 cm, but this is hard to believe. Our, currently 6-8 cm long,
specimens from the Congo look already very adult with their “pimples” on
the face. They surely grow up to 12-15 cm, but much larger? May
different species have been confused, who knows? We will keep some
specimens and see…
Against
each other Labeo parvus are very peaceful – compared with other Labeo.
However, all species of this relationship should be kept either as a
single specimen or in larger groups. The broad sucker mouth of the
species is amazing, as well is the fast change of coloration. The very
same specimen can show a striped pattern and in the next moment it is
almost black.
The
second species in our stock also originates from the Congo: Labeo
barbatus. We obtained only very few specimens. In this case already the
youngster give an idea that this fish will grow to a large size: about
60 cm are reported in literature, so this algae eater fits only for
really large aquaria.
For our customers: the fish have code
142702 (Labeo parvus) and 142103 (Labeo barbatus) on our stocklist.
Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
