The genus Pseudobunocephalus has been erected quite recently (2008). It is distinguished from the other banjo cat genera by externally invisible characters of the teeth and bone structures. As aquarists are more interested in fish than in technical definitions of genera it may be mentioned that nevertheless there are some external features that allow to distinguish Pseudobunocephalus from Bunocephalus, the most similar genus: in Pseudobunocephalus upper and lower jaw are about equally long; the lateral line is truncated at approximately the level of the dorsal fin origin; the uppermost and lowermost rays of the caudal fin are the shortest in that fin.
So we can be quite sure that the new banjo cat we were able to import from Peru belongs to the genus Pseudobunocephalus. However, we were not able to determine the species so far. If we go for the coloration, the species P. rugosus keys out, which is known so far from the Paraguay-Paraná-basin only; if we ignore the coloration the species P. amazonicus keys out. That species occurs in Peru, but is said to have a strong contrasting dark-light pattern.
May it be as it is: so far no species of Pseudobunocehalus is known which grows larger than 8 cm and so we can assume that the new white one also stays small. This makes it an interesting addition to the species of banjo cat available in the hobby.
For our customers: the fish has code 212892 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
Lexicon: Pseudobunocephalus: ancient Greek, means “false Bunocephalus”. Bunocephalus is another genus of banjo cat. The name was chosen because in the past members of Pseudobunocephlus often have been mistaken for juveniles of Bunocephalus. Bunocephalus: ancient Greek, means “with hilly head”. rugosus: Latin, means “wrinkled, rugose”. amazonicus: after the Amazon river, where the species occurs.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
| Angaben zum Tier | |
|---|---|
| Herkunft | Peru |
| Verfügbare Größe in cm | 5-7 |
