The armored catfish of the Rio Purus in Brazil have an enormous variety of forms, which is really hard to see through. In addition to the already variable coloration, there are also differences in the color pattern at different ages. Almost every attempt at identification leaves doubts, at least for individual animals. It is therefore important to always look at several individuals of armored catfish from the Rio Purus, which is after all over 3,000 km long and has a catchment area of over 370,000 km2, and check which combination of characteristics they have in common.
A recent import from the Rio Purus was initially a great mystery to us. The fish were offered and sent as Brochis pulcher and there were indeed some B. pulcher among the specimens, but only a few. In contrast to B. pulcher, most specimens have a dark saddle spot directly at the base of the dorsal fin. In addition, dark markings extend into the membranes of the dorsal fin. The dorsal fin spine is light cream-colored. The flank pattern consists of three interrupted longitudinal bands. In apparently adult animals (6-7 cm total length) these longitudinal bands are relatively narrow, in the smallest animal of the import (approx. 5 cm) it can still be seen that they are composed of larger dark spots, as is known from Brochis from the closer relationship of B. agassizii and B. ambiacus. The dorsal area is densely dotted, with a slightly lighter line running along the entire dorsal edge. The caudal fin of the Purus armored catfish is richly striped with 5-6 bands. An eye band is present and the snout region is dotted.
If all the characteristics are taken together, the assignment to the armored catfish designated as C156 seems most likely. C156 was first introduced in the DATZ in 2007. This beautiful armoured catfish is presumably imported from time to time, but is rarely recognized due to the identification difficulties described above. We have now (recognized) it for the first time.
For our customers: the animals have code 241754 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply the wholesale trade.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
