polypterus b.b.
- Thread starter plausible
- Start date
couple more pics 
2nd pic is from the site d's room (as you can see from the watermark
).
1st one is from a japanese vendor site. thing is many of these come from vendor sites, which update their pics frequently.
in terms of rarity, ansorgii is still the rarest. and i believe there are still less ansorgii (and maybe teugelsi) in japan than bichir bichir. in fact, the japanese began importing bichir bichir some time around 2002-2003, at least thats the earliest i read about, and i read that there are only about 60-70 specimens total imported from the beginning till the end of 2006, so they are by no means common.
the japanese were able to get them because they went to east africa themselves to collect them, and at least one company has operation in that region.
no they're not endangered, and they can't be that rare in the wild...i don't think. i've seen a pic of a canoe full of bichir bichir that are caught no doubt for food.
i think a major reason why they're very hard to get is the fact that they're from East africa. there are reports of them in central africa, but lapradei has a wide distribution in west and central africa. given the two subspecies can look a lot alike, its hard to say whether reports of them in central africa is accurate or not. BUT lapradei is NOT cited in east africa.
having said that, a lot of africa is in regional conflicts, and that definitely doesn't help. also some countries might not allow export of indigenous species, which limits where they can be exported from.
so they're for sure found in east africa, but problem is there don't seem to be many collectors/suppliers in that region (at least not like west/central africa). those that are probably don't deal with and don't know much about bichirs.
2nd pic is from the site d's room (as you can see from the watermark
).1st one is from a japanese vendor site. thing is many of these come from vendor sites, which update their pics frequently.
in terms of rarity, ansorgii is still the rarest. and i believe there are still less ansorgii (and maybe teugelsi) in japan than bichir bichir. in fact, the japanese began importing bichir bichir some time around 2002-2003, at least thats the earliest i read about, and i read that there are only about 60-70 specimens total imported from the beginning till the end of 2006, so they are by no means common.
the japanese were able to get them because they went to east africa themselves to collect them, and at least one company has operation in that region.
no they're not endangered, and they can't be that rare in the wild...i don't think. i've seen a pic of a canoe full of bichir bichir that are caught no doubt for food.
i think a major reason why they're very hard to get is the fact that they're from East africa. there are reports of them in central africa, but lapradei has a wide distribution in west and central africa. given the two subspecies can look a lot alike, its hard to say whether reports of them in central africa is accurate or not. BUT lapradei is NOT cited in east africa.
having said that, a lot of africa is in regional conflicts, and that definitely doesn't help. also some countries might not allow export of indigenous species, which limits where they can be exported from.
so they're for sure found in east africa, but problem is there don't seem to be many collectors/suppliers in that region (at least not like west/central africa). those that are probably don't deal with and don't know much about bichirs.
Let's give Toyin some time. If he can bring in ansorgii and teugelsi, then it is only a matter of time that Toyin will have polypterus bichir bichir in stock. Believe!
i'm believingmr_ifo;1012088; said:Let's give Toyin some time. If he can bring in ansorgii and teugelsi, then it is only a matter of time that Toyin will have polypterus bichir bichir in stock. Believe!
although i always knew this one will be the hardest since he specializes in West and Central African fish so i'd guess he has a lot more connection in those regions than in East Africa. But i'm believing...East Africa is the key i think this is also a reason why toyin has never gotten in the rarest lungfish in the hobby, Protopterus amphibius, because it is also found in limited regions in East Africa.as for bichir bichir vs. bichir lapradei, there are differences in their size and growth rate from what i read (larger and faster for bichir bichir). the lateral scale count is different (higher in bichir bichir), and what appears to be a longer body. In addition to having on average a typically higher dorsal finlets count (15-16 is what i've seen, but the caveat is lapradei can also have 15, maybe uncommon, but still), visually the other thing that stands out is that the head of bichir bichir does seem to be consistently different from that of lapradei.
color and pattern, on the other hand, i haven't really come up with very clear precise differences. sure there are subtle differences, but nothing that i'd call a clear cut unmistakable distinction. check out the Nigerian lapradei below, and compare that with the bichir bichir.
wow!