The needle catfishes (Farlowella) are one of the most species-rich genera within the whiptail catfish relationship with currently 30 recognized species. The species look very similar to each other. Distinguishing features are mainly the arrangement of the bony shields along the flanks and on the abdomen, which is naturally hard to recognize on the living animal. From an aquaristic point of view, the shape and coloration of the snout process, also called rostrum, is more useful, but uncertainties in identification always remain with these animals.
From Manaus in Brazil we currently receive an attractive Farlowella species, which is probably F. amazonum. That this species is very variable is shown by the high number of synonyms: no less than six double descriptions are listed by Retzer & Page in their 1996 revision of the genus! Farlowella amazonum grows over 20 cm long. There is a great similarity to F. platorhynchus (see https://www.aquariumglaser.de/en/fish-archives/farlowella_platorhynchus_en/, there also general care instructions for Farlowella), which by the way is also put into the synonymy of F. amazonum by newer authors.
For our customers: the animals have code 253633 on our stocklist. Please note that we supply exclusively to wholesalers.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
