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.
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.
