Kind of new here =) Some photos and some questions

[MaineiacJay]

Hello!

I joined here a while ago but never really posted, but Id like to stick around =)

My husband and I are fish enthusiasts. He likes smaller fish, I like monsters, specifically, Polypterus! I started with a Senegal about 3 years ago but had no real knowledge of them. It was only 6 months ago that I bought a misidentified Polypterus and discovered the world of Bichir! This girl was labelled as a Palmas Palmas. This Bichir was actually the reason I first posted here, to help me identify her. So really, it was this forum that introduced me to all the different sub/species.

Now, I am hooked! My goal is to get every type of Polypterus, but I have a long ways to go! Currently I have:

9" Polypterus Senegalus
7" Polypterus Endlicheri Endlicheri
6" Polypterus Ornatipinnis
3" Albino Polypterus Senegalus (x2)
3" Polypterus Palmas Buettikoferi

My LFS orders does special orders for them which is really nice. This is where my question comes in...

the manager knows me well, he knows Im interested in Bichir and tries to get the more uncommon ones for me (the buettikoferi I just got last week from him). He just got what came in as a "Guinea" Polypterus. It looks like an Ansorgii (broken horizontal bars) and is priced at $40. Everywhere I look though, Ansorgiis seem to be priced higher, anywhere from $50-100+ Im pretty well versed with the main species/sub species (not quite up to par on sp. and sp. aff. though I would REALLY like to learn more about them and understand what exactly they are! if you could give a good description or point me in the right direction, that would be great!) and it really does look like an Ansorgii but it wouldnt be the first time they mislabelled a Poly, though it is easy to do if you dont know much about them. I dont really have the money right now to pick it up, but if its a really good deal, Ill find a way!

so along those lines, I got wondering, what do the different types of Polys go for, generally of course? could anyone give me a list and an approximate price for each? or what you paid for yours? this store marks up a lot of things, but also has some for cheaper. getting them from my local store is convenient so I dont mind paying extra, but I dont want to pay an outrageous amount for what should be a cheaper type if that makes sense. Its also nice that this FS is connected to the one I work at, so I get 25% off <3

thanks so much for reading my long post! Ill reward you with photos now!

Buettikoferi

ornatipinnis

endlicheri endlicheri

albino senegal

Senegal

 

[MaineiacJay]

also, as you can see in the photos, the Senegal has yellow speckles along its entire midline, from head to tail. its really interesting. Is this normal? I have never seen it before...

 

[tlindsey]

also, as you can see in the photos, the Senegal has yellow speckles along its entire midline, from head to tail. its really interesting. Is this normal? I have never seen it before...

D drb
J Jaw

 

[Dr.B]

The ansorgii is commonly referred in the pet trade as the "guinean" bichir so I would assume that it is most likely an ansorgii. Unfortunately there is a catch, almost all CB ansorgii bichirs aren't truly ansorgii. They tend to have some traces of endlicheri in their bloodline. The pricier ones you tend to see are often WC and have obviously clean bloodlines.

As far as the sp. goes, it's basically a distinction between different fish that aren't currently recognized (by scientists) for being a legitimate species/sub-species. For example, if you take an Nigerian lapradei and compare it to an sp. koliba or sp. koloton, you will notice a difference in patterns, coloration etc.., However they are all looked at still as one singular fish from different river systems. Hopefully science can prove them to be as different as they appear to be.

Pricing can be a somewhat tricky thing to talk about. It's not really universal so one fish on the east coast may command more money than on the west coast. Supply and demand is really the main key here. So pricing can depend on your area, type of fish, if it's WC or CB, and size, (probably forgetting one or two things here, my apologies). Usually a WC fish will cost more than a CB fish.

 

[MaineiacJay]

here is another photo if it helps.

zoomed

Its probably normal, but ive seen quite a few Senegals but they arent yellow like this

 

[Dr.B]

And yes, the yellow is normal. It is drawn out more (as well as the darker coloration of your senegal) through the black sand you have.

 

[MaineiacJay]

Ah, didn't see your first post. A tremendous thanks for the info! I suspected that's what the sp. was, judging by everything I was reading, but I wasn't quite sure. I still have a lot to learn, but im enjoying every bit of info!

I think what makes identification difficult is that there are so many different names (well, "common" name, like gold dust and dinosaur eel) for each species and then you have the subspecies and the color variants and the locations and different lines... It can get a bit jumbled. I'm working on a personal resource website for myself (although maybe one day it can be used for others as well) where I can record everything im finding since there really is a lot of information, but I haven't managed to find a site that has everything all in one place (although this forum is AMAZING, it's sometimes time consuming to navigate through the commentary to find the facts). This forum has been a tremendous help and I will certainly stick around and gather more information.

Thanks so much for your help!

 

[jaws7777]

That sen looks awesome. He looks like that dragon in the Disney movie.... aaahah whats his name..tooth somthing

Anyway welcome . Looks like someone was nipping at the gold dusts tail

 

[MaineiacJay]

That sen looks awesome. He looks like that dragon in the Disney movie.... aaahah whats his name..tooth somthing

Anyway welcome . Looks like someone was nipping at the gold dusts tail

Thank you!

They don't have names actually, I don't know why, maybe because I lack creativity in that department

My senegal is definitely my favorite. He started it all and he is just so gorgeous! And friendly. The others tend to hide but he comes right up to the glass and follows your fingers. I think that's what I like most about the sens is their activity level, especially during the day.

As for the buettikoferi, he came in that way. They ordered 2 and they both had tattered tails. This one was the better of the two.

Also, about the ansorgii, if I took a picture, would anyone be able to identify if it was pure or a mix?

 

[HumanBean]

also, as you can see in the photos, the Senegal has yellow speckles along its entire midline, from head to tail. its really interesting. Is this normal? I have never seen it before...

Exactly. Not too sure what kind of variation is this ? But beautiful