ID needed

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oneyedfish

oneyedfish

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Jan 7, 2006
1,422
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West Chester, PA
Calling all Catfish Gods. Here is an update of my TSN. I've had him since he was about 4", he seems to have topped out at 19ish". There has been no noticeable growth in about 4 months. Can anyone provide a specific ID?
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The common (or (almost) the only?) ones in the trade in the USA are tigrinum, fasciatum, and reticulatum. All I can think is this is not a reticulatum. I am getting more and more confused how to tell a tigrinum from fasciatum for a layman. There seems to be no source of reliable set of pictures to go by, not even PCF (to my eye).

PCF on fasciatum http://www.planetcatfish.com/common/species.php?species_id=328: "Vertical to slightly oblique black stripes which are joined together in ''y'' shapes over the fishes back; often has spots, which are thicker on the ventral side; great variation in stripes and spot patterns. Eigenmann recognized at least 14 varieties or subspecies based on colour patterns; easily confused with other members of the genus."

PCF on tigrinum http://www.planetcatfish.com/common/species.php?species_id=329: "Vertical to slightly oblique black stripes; often has spots, which are thicker on the ventral side; great variation in stripe and spot patterns. Eigenmann recognized at least 14 varieties or subspecies based on colour patterns; easily confused with other members of the genus."

SeriouslyFish on both http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/pseudoplatystoma-tigrinum/ and http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/pseudoplatystoma-fasciatum: "It’s easily confused with the closely related and very similar-looking P. fasciatum. Indeed both are usually sold with the same common name of “tiger shovelnose”. In general, P. fasciatum exhibits a more irregular overall pattern compared to the uniformly striped P. tigrinum. This is not always a reliable means of distinguishing the two though, as they can vary considerably in appearance. For example over a dozen colour forms of P. fasciatum have been identified, depending on locality."

Scotcat on fasciatum http://www.scotcat.com/pimelodidae/pseudoplatystoma_fasciatum.htm : "Similar to Pseudoplatystoma tigrinum but P.tigrinum has a striped pattern and P. fasciatum has the stripes more in the shape of a Y. The first specimen pictured here, was taken in The Port Doree Public Aquarium in Paris, France. The 5,6,7,8 & 9th images were taken in Thailand, Asia, where this Pim has now been introduced to large ponds and fishing lakes for sport fishing."

Scotcat on tigrinum http://www.scotcat.com/pimelodidae/pseudoplatystoma_tigrinum.htm : "Similar to Pseudoplatystoma fasciatum but Pseudoplatystoma tigrinum has more of a striped body pattern and P. fasciatum has the stripes more in the shape of a Y."
 
Heavily spotted caudal fin, and lack of pale vertical bars make me lean toward tigrinum. I'm going off the "Morphological comparison among the species of Pseudoplatystoma" and photo chart in the TSN ID sticky for that.
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?322161-TSN-ID-Chart-Pseudoplatystoma

I'm pretty sure mine's fasciatum, there's a somewhat recent pic in my sig on the last page of the "my cats" link, and the vertical light colored bars are clearly visible as is the more sparsely spotted tail. There's another species that basically fits the fasciatum description but they are generally not available in the hobby. He's still a bit small, about 14", so it's possible that the spots on the tail are still developing or the light bars will disappear but it doesn't seem that they've changed much when I compare to the older pics. Mostly it just seems like the dark striping is shifting a bit and getting thinner as he grows. I'll have to get my wife to take a fresh pic sometime this weekend, I can't take a good photo to save my life, and do a comparison.
 
What has me puzzled is his lack of growth. Nothing has changed (water params, feeding schedule, tankmates, etc...) and there has been no noticeable growth in at least 4 months. He is holding steady at an eyeballed 18-19". Has me wondering if it is one of the smaller species of TSN.


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