Lophiosilurus fowleri...?

[jjohnwm]

My local fish emporium, AFishionados, has just gotten in a small number of cats they label as Lophiosilurus fowleri, or Rusty Jelly Cats. They're quite small, 2.5 - 3 inches in length, and they look quite different than I remember the appearance of my dearly-departed L.apurensis when I got it at about 4 inches in size a few years back. These fish are marked with several dark bands on a lighter colour background. Their body shape is very reminiscent of apurensis, although the tail seems more squared-off compared to the apu's very round tail.

I have had only two apu's over the course of my hobby, but they are hands-down my favourite species after 55+ years of fishkeeping. I had sworn after losing my second one recently that I would not get another and have moved away from tanks requiring temperatures above the normal temps in my basement fishroom...but I am weak! When I saw these guys, I had to have one. It's been installed into a 75-gallon tank with mature sponge filter, heated (!) to 76F, lots of hard cover in the form of driftwood and flowerpot sections, and a group of 20-ish Gymnogeophagus fry in the half-inch range to serve as friends/confidants/snacks. Should have tried to get a picture when it was in the bag, because getting one now will be challenging.

I trust the shop's ID of the fish, I guess...but not entirely certain. To my untrained eye this could just as easily be a small pseudopimelodid cat like one of the Batrachoglanis species? I will try to get a few diagnostic pics as soon as I can. In the meantime, I wanted to post this up as an alert to those who might be seeking fowleri. It seems they are far less commonly encountered than apurensis, so if there has been a recent importation that starts to show up in the hobby it might be useful to potential keepers to keep their eyes open. Any comments on sightings or perhaps on ID-ing of these species at very small sizes would be appreciated.

I recall the beautiful specimen owned by Yellowcat , which made me aware that these fish might be "apu-like" in terms of desirability to me. I've had it for less than 24 hours, so way too soon for me to comment on differences or similarities yet.

 

[Cal Amari]

Now John, you know you're not supposed to buy the shiny new fish at the lfs the first time you see it just because " you really want to."
Just because you have the space, experience, and ability to maintain and care for this fish for the rest of it's natural life doesn't mean you can go around setting a bad example. Next time I will expect you to have plenty of photos of the fish in a tank it will outgrow with tankmates it will kill or be killed by, and to ask how big it will get, what it needs to eat, and if it needs any extra toys, electrical stimulation, grow lights, or therapy sessions.

 

[jjohnwm]

Now John, you know you're not supposed to buy the shiny new fish at the lfs the first time you see it just because " you really want to."
Just because you have the space, experience, and ability to maintain and care for this fish for the rest of it's natural life doesn't mean you can go around setting a bad example. Next time I will expect you to have plenty of photos of the fish in a tank it will outgrow with tankmates it will kill or be killed by, and to ask how big it will get, what it needs to eat, and if it needs any extra toys, electrical stimulation, grow lights, or therapy sessions.

Lol, when I got home with the fish I scooped a bunch of Gymno fry into it, then carefully added hot water to the tank to raise the temp from below 70F to 76F over the course of a half hour or so. Dropped in a well-proven and adjusted Sicce heater, and then out of an abundance of caution watched the temp like a hawk for the rest of the day. I'm embarrassed to admit that I extended the probe length on a cheapo digital remote thermometer, and carefully ran the probe into the tank in the basement with the actual digital display upstairs in my den. My wife watched all this running-around...and unfortunately discovered my well-concealed hole drilled long ago in the floor under the bookcase ...before commenting "I can just imagine what you would say if you heard about someone else being this ill-prepared..."

You know what they say: If you can't set a good example, at least you can serve as a horrible warning.