Capa or Fila? True or false?

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thebiggerthebetter said:
EAC007219 EAC007219 Because it is a "Peru piraiba" and there is a widespread lack of understanding among the peers as to the growth rate and max size and the species ID of these fish, coming from different vendors - Wesley Wong (I have to guess you got yours from Wesley because of the typo in your ad), Malone's monsters, Predatory Fins, Exotic Fish Shop, etc.

This thread started by Dermifrost (thanks to him) is a tip of the iceberg. I have started to run into this issue often and would love to get it solved or start on the journey of solving it eventually. Hence, I'd love the community help and input, or at least start raising awareness that this issue exists.
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Have you been to a Peru?? I’ve been on boats that have caught 5/6 species of Brachyplatystoma over the years. Never have seen a filamentosum.
I’m not sure what your point is about my fish is, except for it is being called a Peruvian fila?

I’m going to dig through my market pictures.. Could be some in those. Just know we never caught one where we were. Both up and down River from Iquitos.
 
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EAC007219 EAC007219 I appreciate your input greatly. Thank you. This is highly valuable. No I've never been to SA.

5-6 species or specimen? There are 7 species in the genus and without the look-alikes fila and capa, only 5 remain. https://www.planetcatfish.com/common/genus.php?genus_id=161#2342

I read that B. rousseauxii migrates 1600 miles up river to the foothills of the Andes in Peru to spawn and the young then drift down the current as they grow over time. Perhaps filamentosum and capapretum do the same, I don't know. Perhaps what Peru has are only/mostly the YOY, hence fishermen don't catch anything sizeable, neither by nets nor by angling.

My point is

[1] there is confusion as to the species ID of fish marketed as "Peru piraiba" in the community (as exemplified by this thread, for instance) and then there are people who firmly believe in their fish ID (like you; and I tend to agree with you for now, until I know more, that yours is a fila, not capa)

[2] I've learned firsthand there is indeed this huge size/growth disparity between the Peru and Suriname filamentosum reminiscent of the difference between fila and capa (at least they are marketed as Peru and Suriname filamentosum and NEITHER look like capapretum when young).

I want to learn more about this issue and would like the community input. On voluntary basis, no expectations.
 
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I made up my mind and I was able to grab a 5-6" fila from Belem (Brazil), hasn't eaten in a while so I will upload a video once he/she's fully acclimated. Thanks to all for their input!
 
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You’re correct… I had Jau and RTC lumped in there…
thebiggerthebetter said:
EAC007219 EAC007219 I appreciate your input greatly. Thank you. This is highly valuable. No I've never been to SA.

5-6 species or specimen? There are 7 species in the genus and without the look-alikes fila and capa, only 5 remain. https://www.planetcatfish.com/common/genus.php?genus_id=161#2342

I read that B. rousseauxii migrates 1600 miles up river to the foothills of the Andes in Peru to spawn and the young then drift down the current as they grow over time. Perhaps filamentosum and capapretum do the same, I don't know. Perhaps what Peru has are only/mostly the YOY, hence fishermen don't catch anything sizeable, neither by nets nor by angling.

My point is

[1] there is confusion as to the species ID of fish marketed as "Peru piraiba" in the community (as exemplified by this thread, for instance) and then there are people who firmly believe in their fish ID (like you; and I tend to agree with you for now, until I know more, that yours is a fila, not capa)

[2] I've learned firsthand there is indeed this huge size/growth disparity between the Peru and Suriname filamentosum reminiscent of the difference between fila and capa (at least they are marketed as Peru and Suriname filamentosum and NEITHER look like capapretum when young).

I want to learn more about this issue and would like the community input. On voluntary basis, no expectations.
Click to expand...
 
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Hello fam, so this is the one I got from Brazil - Belem.


Upon arrival --->

8 hours later --->

will upload more videos once I transfer it to the basement cylinder tank.

p.s. ignore the arapaima & yellow lab (yellow lab is a deformed cull & arapaima is getting fixed from cloudy eyes)

20211230_073439.jpg
 
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The strange thing is... I got this one a while back from Peru, i believe it came from madre de dios. and despite the fact that it's smaller, it's darker and it has a more aggressive look, also the top fin is sharper. unfortunately, this one got eaten by my rtc after it was xfered. i dont know how to link the full video from fb to here. this darker one grew a lot faster and ate from my hand. so i am now more confused than ever before. I have hard a really tough time finding one like this, when he was even smaller he looked like a dorado. very very shiny.

p.s.
i hate rtc's with passion.

Screenshot_20211230-105446_Facebook.jpg
 
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There are huge (or at least 5 foot +) piraiba that are caught in Peru. That's not to say that these are the same "thing" that get exported as juveniles, but they are there.
 
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Thank you for these. Glad to see and hear a bit about your experience with these fish. We all learn together so much more and better!

Arapaima in the QT looks small enough for the piraiba to eat it. I'd not risk it.

The new piraiba is thin, as you had stated.

Piraiba colors can vary in my experience. Our Suriname is dark. One of our Peru is almost as dark while the other is light, indeed reminiscent of dourada catfish. It is interesting to see that your Peru is darker yet than our darker ones but your substrate is also dark, while we have bare bottom, and it is a factor. It is also interesting that your Peru fish was light colored when younger and turned dark as it grew. Was a change in substrate color involved?

I am not sure what link you are drawing between the size, the shade of darkness, and the aggressiveness of the looks. I'd not think they are necessarily linked, except adult piraiba get dark, it seems. The top fin of your Peru fish could have been damaged, judging from the dip in the front ray.

This old Peru piraiba, you say it grew a lot faster, but than who? Sorry, just trying to understand. Also what are you confused about, I am not readily understanding either, about filamentosum vs capapretum and Peru vs others?

blackbullhead said:
There are huge (or at least 5 foot +) piraiba that are caught in Peru. That's not to say that these are the same "thing" that get exported as juveniles, but they are there.
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Thank you for this. If so, these cannot be capapretum as capapretum do not seem to exceed 4ft even in the wild. 5ft+ is a rather small filamentosum by the species wild standards.
 
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