Need help IDing this catfish (Sold to me as a lima catfish)

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BunInvasion

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 6, 2022
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Picked up this guy from nearby LFS and shop guy told me its a lima cat i do see some similarities but the eye position and entire body shape definitely does not look like how a lima shovelnose catfish should look. And i do see it has gill curl and im working on it trying to fix it with regular water changes, It's about 18cm now.20220806_230126.jpg
 
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IMO its a man made hybrid… Lima X ?… cple yrs ago there were some albino/gold lima crosses going around limaxrtc, limaxtsn etc…i may be wrong, but it most def. looks like one of those conglomerations of sorts ?
 
IMO its a man made hybrid… Lima X ?… cple yrs ago there were some albino/gold lima crosses going around limaxrtc, limaxtsn etc…i may be wrong, but it most def. looks like one of those conglomerations of sorts ?
i think its highly possible it could be one of those since it has weirdly shaped fins that almost looks deformed and its mouth does indeed look sort of non symmetrical as well, any idea if those would grow to stupid huge size? cause i have no capability to hold a huge catfish if it goes over 2ft.

Edit : ah **** i googled Lima x RTC and it looks exactly like how mine looks rip
 
Not sure how “viable” this mix in particular is, but i wouldn’t be worried. This is honestly one of the largest ones ive seen still alive lol… not to be the bearer of bad news but alot of the man made hybrids just dont last long with the weird/odd gene mixes. Nigerxtsn and rtcxparoon for example only last a few yrs at best. Heres some pics of other RTCxLima mixes. Keep in mind about every 1 will look different but id def. Wager thats what the mix is u have. Cant find the golden ones yet ill try and get a pic tho ??.
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I'm no expert on hybrids but what are the chances that the curled gill plate could be a hybrid deformity? That was my immediate thought when I saw the suggestion of a hybrid.
 
Not sure how “viable” this mix in particular is, but i wouldn’t be worried. This is honestly one of the largest ones ive seen still alive lol… not to be the bearer of bad news but alot of the man made hybrids just dont last long with the weird/odd gene mixes. Nigerxtsn and rtcxparoon for example only last a few yrs at best. Heres some pics of other RTCxLima mixes. Keep in mind about every 1 will look different but id def. Wager thats what the mix is u have. Cant find the golden ones yet ill try and get a pic tho ??.
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Oh my god thank you so much that just confirms on the catfish in my tank. which would explain why it grew insanely fast.. Anyway i think it might not live much longer too as its having weird heavy unexplained breathing in pristine freshly changed water and it's tankmates are breathing fine
 
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I'm no expert on hybrids but what are the chances that the curled gill plate could be a hybrid deformity? That was my immediate thought when I saw the suggestion of a hybrid.
Now that you mentioned it, i am starting to believe it might be due to the hybrid deformity actually.. im not really sure either. i do water change weekly for all my river dwelling fishes so i do not think the cause of the curled gill was from bad water quality
 
I'm no expert on hybrids but what are the chances that the curled gill plate could be a hybrid deformity? That was my immediate thought when I saw the suggestion of a hybrid.

Gill curl is a common deformity for captive bred RTC’s… half of this fishs genes… so this is what u get lol… not just hybrids but “man made” fish in general have countless “common” deformities that “survive” living a cushy nerf life in captivity ?. Missing gill plates, crazy skull formations, smashed in faces, skeletal problems, missing fins/arms… etc… alot are from egg handling as well as repeated use of the same gene pool. These “common deformities” are also seen in most any hatchery raised “sport fish”… bass, trout, musky, pike etc…. They do occur naturally in fresh and marine fish also but we dont see them as much as nature takes its course ??…
 
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