I finally got a SAL... Thanks Pola.

[Daniel Machado]

Hi all...

After a few years looking after one of these, I finally got a SAL. It was a gift from my friend Pola (yup, the same that owns the leucistic one). It's a 14-inch long specimen, and it has some nice tiny whitish spots over its body. Any idea about what these could be?

Oh, it's very active, acting normal and eating well... I really don't think it's a disease.

Anyway, it's a WONDERFUL fish... More than I ever thought. Thanks again, Pola.

Best regards.

Daniel.

 

[Gr8KarmaSF]

SWEET!!!

whats it eating in the last pic?

 

[Daniel Machado]

F/T shrimp... The human-love-to-eat-it big shrimp type.

Best regards.

Daniel.

 

[Nic]

awsome pick up that is a sweet looking sal good luck with it

 

[davo]

Nice, not sure on the small white spots. Little plec looks good too

 

[ewurm]

Sweet setup, nice lungfish.

 

[Daniel Machado]

Nic,

Thanks for the kind words.

Davo,

Those spots are vanishing... Still don't know what is it.
Oh, the plec is an undescribed Hypostomus species related to H. regani, AFAIK.

Ewurm,

I'll post pics of the tank soon... And the tankmates. I think it's a nice specimen too.

Best regards.

Daniel.

 

[santoury]

Hello
Nice pick up, but I feel I should bring up a concern... the skin does not look very healthy. When young, SAL's are typically black or charcoal gray, not a washed out grayish color with white areas. It seems to have been kept under unsanitary tank conditions - You say it's improving - Good on you. Keep it up.

 

[santoury]

Upon closer look, it looks like it was actually attacked in the near past. I notice there are more and more brown specimens out there... is there a possible subspecies?

 

[Daniel Machado]

santoury,

These pics were taken in the very moment this specimen arrived here in my house... Very stressed from a 2-days-long trip. The last pic was taken a couple days later... And the pics below were taken 20 days after arrival, after settling in and almost completely recovered from some injuries it has... Like a missing chunk in the tail.

Well, this specimen is not so juvenile... And it's from the southern brazilian population, not from the amazon region. There is some color variation, from black (sometimes even bluish-black) to light brown/ gray, AFAIK. It seems that we need further studies about the geographical populations to make it possible for us to check about possible subspecies.

Oh, the tiny light spots almost vanished... But it's still light brown. Pics below.

I really love this smile, BTW.

Best regards.

Daniel.