P. perruno

[cigar larry]

I recently got what I believe is a 5" Leiarius marmoratus. Pics in the Burgess cat fish book shows intense coloring. I was at my lfs and he had a 12" to 14" cat that looks like a Perrunichthys perruno in the Burgess book. I didn't count the fin rays. It was much duller in color intensity. The marbling between the two are somewhat different. the L.m. seems to have more of a leopard look and the P.p. has a more marbled look from his pictures in the book. I'm looking for a cat to put in my larger tank with my shovel nose that he can't eat. He' 26" long. From posts the Perrunichthys perruno is fairly hard to get. The lfs wants $80 for the one he has. Hard to tell if these pics are of mature fish or not. I know they tend to change with age. My L. pictus did.

Later, cigar larry

 

[killerfish]

i'd get it they make good tank mates for tiger shovel nose or other big cats really the only way to tell if its a perruno is to count the fin rays the pattern will varie from fish to fish for both species

 

[channarox]

should have about 7 - 8 rays if its a perruno.

 

[KenyanSandBoa]

i'd get it they make good tank mates for tiger shovel nose or other big cats really the only way to tell if its a perruno is to count the fin rays the pattern will varie from fish to fish for both species

should have about 7 - 8 rays if its a perruno.

The only true way to identify the species is like what was mentioned...counting those dorsal rays.

I can almost guarantee that it's a Leiarius marmoratus (now Leiarius longibarbis)...especially for that price...unless they don't realize what they have.

Leiarius pictus will definitely change as it matures, like you mentioned, but the best thing about the marbled pim is that it keeps that beautiful pattern as it ages.

I vote PICK IT UP!!