Hello,
i know Polypterus senegalus in two different shapes:
One type is more greyish in colour and has a more "bulldog"-like head shape as you can see on the pic under ...
Another type is more brownish / yellowish in colouration and has this parabola-like head shape as you can see on the pic under ...
A very good way to compare both "types" is to look at them together - and from the side (here while breeding /egg-laying):
And there is a third type from the Lake Turkana - the best candidate for a sub-species. Unfortunately i couldn't find a pic of this "sub-species" any more, but due to the isolated habitat it's possible that it will be an also genetic local variant. The over-all appearance is quite different ...
It's important to look at the "first description" of Polypterus senegalus meridionalis: Not any of the remarks listed above is the reason to describe this subspecies - the only(!) reason was the earlier loss of the external gills comparing to the "typical" Polypterus senegalus.
OK, just another thing: I'm posting pics from my P.senegalus caused by the experience seeing many P.senegalus in pet shops, on pics etc. - both of my P.senegalus seem to be typical in their shaping.
The third variant of P.senegalus seems to be different to the other ones. Also the specimen may be bigger than usual.
Due to the disturbing situation of taxonomy of the Polypterids (if we look at it without criticizm all seems to be ok - but what about Polypterus sp. koliba? The Palmas-group? Incorrect first descriptions like P.teugelsi? There are direct and indirect correlations ... and Frank Schaefer didn't obliged the polypteridized keepers with his book due to the not scientific fundaments of his new taxonomy - many things he wrote are worth to reconsider or assume ... but not everything) keepers are left alone with some species like koliba - or in this case P.s.meridionalis.
Most keepers i know are seeing the validity of P.s.meridionalis in doubt ...
Greetings
Uwe
Has anyone EVER seen one, or have any reliable pictures comparing the differences between them and regular Senegals? Because when I bough my sen, he was in a tank all by himself and the fish store guy [local bichir addict] said it was imported by accident with the batch of senegals and he said it was a meridionalis... so since I knew they weren't too popular I picked him up. I know to not believe everything you hear from fish stores but this guy hasn't lied about bichirs before, and it was only ten bucks. When I bought it it was about 3-4", VERY yellowish [hence my username] and had multiple darker bands laterally down its body. He's about 5" in the pics and you can kind of see his stripes if you look closely. Last pic is of him a lot more recently. He's about 8" now maybe, and you can still see some stripes [pic does no justice].
And I'm still anticipating the day he breaches a foot in length, then we'll know we both thought wrong!
Next time I decide to go over to that fish store I'll ask him how he identified him like you suggested beblondie.