Grey/Brown Bamboo Sharks

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charles-n-charge

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Aug 28, 2010
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Livingston Tx
What is the difference between grey and brown bamboo sharks? Both visually and biologically.

I see juvenile bamboos all the time; some have light brown and dark brown stripes, and others have more black and white stripes.
Common sense says that the brown ones would be brown bamboo sharks and that the black and white ones would be grey bamboo sharks, but I see them labeled both ways so much that I can't tell which is which.

From what I know, I have a brown bamboo shark, but he has black and white stripes, and not a single hint of brown anywhere. So, I'm not even sure.
ImageUploadedByMonsterAquariaNetwork1382324437.984507.jpg


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
 
Well to help clarify - Brown Banded Bamboos can be either black and white striped or light brown/dark brown striped depending on their age.

Small juveniles - with in a couple months of birth are usually black/white. Juveniles which are a bit older (say 6 months +) tend to be light brown/dark brown striped.

So what you've got is a juvenile Brown Banded.
 
krj-1168 said:
Well to help clarify - Brown Banded Bamboos can be either black and white striped or light brown/dark brown striped depending on their age.

Small juveniles - with in a couple months of birth are usually black/white. Juveniles which are a bit older (say 6 months +) tend to be light brown/dark brown striped.

So what you've got is a juvenile Brown Banded.
Click to expand...

He is now six and a half months old, and still shows no signs at all of brownness anywhere. Just straight black and white.
The whites are starting to fade into a gray color though, which is what has me confused.

Are there any real obvious signs that can be used to tell which is which, or is it just kind of a wild guess until they grow up if you didn't know the parent shark?


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
 
Based on that pic (looking at the dorsal fin), that is a Grey bamboo.
Greys and Brown banded look very similar as pups. What we've been using to ID them is the curve of the dorsal. The pics in the link Nova posted show the differences between the two shapes. The trailing edge of the dorsal on a Grey will curve outwards (be convex - very similar in shape to a white spotted bamboo), the trailing edge on a Brown Banded will curve inwards (concave or sickle shaped).


Do you have a clear pic of the dorsal fin?

Edit:
Just for more info on the banding colors fading:
We've seen some interesting factors come into play during observations lately. My pair of greys came in a mixed group labled 'brown banded' for shipment - and looked identicle when comparing only striping.

As for the fading of bands as they age, it seems to be based more on genetics and a little on age. I have a full size sexually mature brown banded that still has very clear striping. I also have juvie brown bandeds that have lost almost all of their stripes in the same display (same food, same water parameters etc....). The only factor not similar is genetics between the different sharks (either from the parents or where the genetic line was started geographically).
 
Ok, from the second pic - it does look concave (brown banded bamboo). I guess the angle of the pic in the first post had me seeing it wrong.
 
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