Not at all a perruno. Nice fish, and the post above me is correct, all others are speculations, or incorrect.
Is this a Perruno???
- Thread starter Pfizersmom
- Start date
O.K. I stand corrected, after looking at the pic's again it does look more like l. marmoratus. What threw me was the relatively small reticulated pattern in relation to the fish's large size but as they grow the pattern resembles those found in smaller sized perruno's. Here's a pic I found of an adult l. marmoratus...http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=528422&stc=1&d=1283621073
@Yellowcat, take a look at the thread link i posted, you maybe surprised at the huge variation in L marmoratus and its markings.
Right Wayne, the patterns vary widely among marmoratus as juveniles as well as adults. If anyone has Googled images of p. perruno it's evident that most but not all shown are l. marmoratus. The patterns tend to be more random than with p. perruno which seem to have small and more numerous reticulated 'patches'. As juveniles it's easier to tell the difference between the species as the larger dorsal fin of marmoratus is more obvious when they're small. One thing I noticed, besides the determining factor of dorsal fin ray count is that the perruno is overall slimmer in general body shape by comparison and their adipose fin is a bit longer and lower. Also adult specimens of p. perruno seems to lack the noticeable hump behind the head that large l. marmoratus seem to develop with age. Here's a couple of pic's I found from my vast catfish library showing 2 p. perruno's and the fin ray count seems to coincide with the I.D.....http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/f...nt.php?attachmentid=528684&stc=1&d=1283653952
In the original description for P perruno the dorsal count is 1-7, so both those fish shown are L marmoratus. Those books look like the old TFH books hardly reliable for id'ing fish. Check out the recently added pics on PC for P perruno, can count the rays yourself. These fish are not in the hobby, and probably never have been. Check out all other fish from same area, they not in hobby too, this should tell you something, nothings collected from there as of yet, lets hope they do one day, as some real nice fish from that area.
Correct. None of the pics he posted were perrunos. Lake Maracaibo is a lake that fish are rarely exported from, so you will probably never "stumble" across a perruno.wayne the pain;4443085; said:In the original description for P perruno the dorsal count is 1-7, so both those fish shown are L marmoratus. Those books look like the old TFH books hardly reliable for id'ing fish. Check out the recently added pics on PC for P perruno, can count the rays yourself. These fish are not in the hobby, and probably never have been. Check out all other fish from same area, they not in hobby too, this should tell you something, nothings collected from there as of yet, lets hope they do one day, as some real nice fish from that area.
Oh and they can have up to 8 dorsal fin rays.
CANT WAIT!!!!!I have one around 30", such a beautiful active catfish. Def not perruno even though mine was sold to me as a perunno as well. I absolutely love mine and will never give him up.
