Identify this bicher?
- Thread starter LTL
- Start date
I agree with Vince....patternless Polypterus delhezi.
There are a couple of diagnostic meristic features that give it away. While I can't precisely count the number of predorsal scales from the photographs....I can tell that there aren't 22-27 of them (which is the range for P. ornatipinnis). There appear to be more in the range of 12-17 (which is the range for P. delhezi). This basically means that the origin of the first dorsal finlet is closer to the head in P. delhezi than in P. ornatipinnis. The head is also relatively small compared to the body size which is also characteristic of Polypterus delhezi.
There are a couple of other diagnostic characters that could be used but just the first one I mentioned is enough for me to be fairly positive that this fish is Polypterus delhezi.
-Joe
There are a couple of diagnostic meristic features that give it away. While I can't precisely count the number of predorsal scales from the photographs....I can tell that there aren't 22-27 of them (which is the range for P. ornatipinnis). There appear to be more in the range of 12-17 (which is the range for P. delhezi). This basically means that the origin of the first dorsal finlet is closer to the head in P. delhezi than in P. ornatipinnis. The head is also relatively small compared to the body size which is also characteristic of Polypterus delhezi.
There are a couple of other diagnostic characters that could be used but just the first one I mentioned is enough for me to be fairly positive that this fish is Polypterus delhezi.
-Joe
Thanks ppl for the confirmation... 
Hey Vince and Joe, what does it mean by patternless? if the original base colour of a del is yellow with black stripes, doesn't a patternless del be yellow in colour? lol... (sounds like a seneg.. )
The one that i got seems quite dark.... more towards 'fully-banded' than 'bandless'.. hahaha
Hey Vince and Joe, what does it mean by patternless? if the original base colour of a del is yellow with black stripes, doesn't a patternless del be yellow in colour? lol... (sounds like a seneg.. )
The one that i got seems quite dark.... more towards 'fully-banded' than 'bandless'.. hahaha
Well.....since the normal coloration of Polypterus delhezi includes the stripes on the body then I'd call one that doesn't have the stripes a 'patternless' fish. On the other hand....if you wanted to be purely technical then a patternless fish would have no distinctive color pattern at all....like the vast majority of Polypterus senegalus, I suppose.
You have a very nice fish there.....certainly unusual....though I prefer the 'normal' coloration on P. delhezi under most circumstances.
-Joe
You have a very nice fish there.....certainly unusual....though I prefer the 'normal' coloration on P. delhezi under most circumstances.
-Joe
Thanks Joe for confirming. I hope Anne has remedied her "headache"
LTL, welcome to MFK!
Very nice delhizi, I like the color and the patternless look, Very unique.
LTL, welcome to MFK!
Very nice delhizi, I like the color and the patternless look, Very unique.
rallysman said:You'll have more luck if you resize the pix
However..... based on what I can see I would say is a retropinnis bichir, a.k.a. a west african bichir.
This is a retropinnis.Ghost_Bichir said:
However..... based on what I can see I would say is a retropinnis bichir, a.k.a. a west african bichir.
I resized the pictures for better and clarifying view.
