Please help confirm id on pseudoplatystoma

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
u guys stumped me now lol...i dont know how to explain whats in my mind better with words...maybe ill have to do some overhead drawings to point out the key differences.
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Ill do a more detailed one once my cats cooperate for decent pics lol...but this will do for now. Disregard patterns, spots, and colors and start with the basic overhead bill/nose shape. This is the easiest way to identify since all species patterns change throughout their lives but the head/bill remains pretty much the same.
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Interesting. Thanks so much, Wednesday. How do you apply this (need a very good, clear top view of the head) to side shots in the tanks? You seem to do it well but there must be other hints... Don't sweat it. Share as/when/if you will.

Is the head shape difference based on your experience alone with ONE tig and ONE retic and a bunch of fasci or on more specimen?
 
thebiggerthebetter said:
Interesting. Thanks so much, Wednesday. How do you apply this (need a very good, clear top view of the head) to side shots in the tanks? You seem to do it well but there must be other hints... Don't sweat it. Share as/when/if you will.

Is the head shape difference based on your experience alone with ONE tig and ONE retic and a bunch of fasci or on more specimen?
Click to expand...

Yup, u got it...ive had atleast 24-30 different Faciatum over a 10yr span and only ever came across the one tigrunum and one recticulatum i currently still have. Had both the rare guys for 4-6 yrs now (both were very slow growing compared to faciatum aswell). This is one of the #1 "rescue" fish people bring me for free, i keep them for a while to determine what species they are and sell or trade off most all the faciatum lol... if i had a chance to see any other species than faciatum in person theyd currently be in my possession lol. Very hard to come by, both mine were aquired accidently and ive only seen a few more others out there in our community. A rule of thumb for tsn i.d. is...if you think its not a faciatum, chances are it is lol... ive been seeing a few more recticulatum's pop up lately. They are a darker brown, and exhibit belly spotting/pattern similiar to a tsnxlei. They also have alot more small spot pattern on the head....so to answer ur question, yes there are pattern/color factors that can help i.d. but even if you know what to look for its still hard to determine until adult sizes. I was lucky enough to aquire my tigrinum at 8" so ive seen most his life transformation and can remember back what he looked like to help me i.d. new pics of juvies lol...it took me atleast 3yrs of observation and pattern change to realise what he actually is...the recticulatum i aquired at 16-18" and thought it was a tsnxlei hybrid for a couple yrs until he blew up to 34" and it became more apparent. But again, i watched the pattern change and can nit pick the small traits that can be seen in juvi patterns now but was unaware for a while. Boy how i miss Necro these days to help me out lol...


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Nice. Thanks so much. We all miss Necro a lot. Were you in agreement with him over TSN ID?

Have you observed these head shape differences at LFSs, friends', pictures and threads here, I-net, etc. to become assured this trait is common and not based on one tig and one retic versus a bunch of fasci?

Reticulatum. No "c". Not Recticulatum. http://www.fishbase.org/summary/Pseudoplatystoma-reticulatum.html BTW, note the market photo by Ng. H. H. aka Silurus on PCF.
 
thebiggerthebetter said:
Nice. Thanks so much. We all miss Necro a lot. Were you in agreement with him over TSN ID?

Have you observed these head shape differences at LFSs, friends', pictures and threads here, I-net, etc. to become assured this trait is common and not based on one tig and one retic versus a bunch of fasci?

Reticulatum. No "c". Not Recticulatum. http://www.fishbase.org/summary/Pseudoplatystoma-reticulatum.html BTW, note the market photo by Ng. H. H. aka Silurus on

Necro never disagreed with the pics and info i put in the i.d. sticky of my tigrinum or reticulatum so i took that as vaild info lol...i feel he would have ensured it was made correct/valid in his own i.d. thread/sticky. Im 99.9% positive on my own understanding/methods/theories of dichiphering but it was always nice when necro showed up with the scientific facts/proof i cannot explain from visuals. My own i.d.'s were based from his opinions in the first place. I dont agree with that link/pic u added being reticulatum. Looks tigrinum to me... Honestly im not surprised as info can be dated and theres been plenty re-naming/re classifing occuring with other cat species i.e. Bagarius around these parts over the years lol... when someone writing papers/documentation on certain species for the masses is misinformed or not sure themself...its easy to see how things get mixed up on a large scale. Id wager we as keepers have handeled and observed some of these fish more than the people writing papers on or studying them. Now that most tsn are farm raised fasciatum the others are even harder to drag out the woodwork.
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As for head shapes...i stand by my theories 100% lol... necro studied bones and used that to classify so im not far off. It took me many years to even dicipher 2 fish in question so im no genious lol...but there are most definetly certain head/mouth traits that can be picked out across the board when viewing pics from member or google or walking down to look at a live specimen lol... what i call head trait may actually be skull/jaw/bone structure but im not crazy i promise haha... ive owned atleast a dozen deformed fasciatum also, the skulls on my tig and retic are clean so i feel im fairly accurate even tho i agree 2 specimen study could be bias.
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