Interesting, Lophiosilurus Fowleri (formerly Cephalosilurus Fowleri) had been banned for export by Brazil since 2012 I believe but I did read recently that their export is now permitted. Obviously the first thing to know is if the fish @ Predatory Fins was imported from Brazil as this species is only endemic to one river there, The Rio Sao Francisco, same river as L. Alexandri. Lophiosilurus Apurensis are only found in Venezuela and Colombia. From the photo's shown on P. F.'s website, the one showing the fish in hand, (easily a 6" fish) could be L, Fowleri, the other photo with the blue gravel background was taken from the PlanetCatfish website. The stated size of the fish for sale is 3". The two species are very similar in appearance as juveniles. When comparing the two from a profile, Fowleri's have a flatter head than Apurensis. The more obvious difference is the belly markings of lack thereof, in that the Fowleri will have a clear pale belly whereas the belly of Apurensis will be heavily marked/spotted by comparison. Look in the Cat-eLog on PlanetCatfish for both species, some photos found there are of my former Fowleri and Apurensis. I recently lost my L. Fowleri after 17 years and would easily have another, an all time favorite. Both have similar behaviors but Fowleri tend to be less aggressive and only grow to about 18" where Apurenis are more aggressive and will grow to 28". I think, not sure, that the owner of PredatoryFins is a friend of Viktor's, perhaps he has talked to him about these? Perhaps a call to the vendor might reveal information as to the origin of the fish and maybe a photo of the underside of the fish which would be very helpful. All this being said, he may indeed have real L. Fowleri's and if so, great! At the asking price stated it would be a good deal in todays market, even if it turned out to be L. Apurensis, still a good price for one of them too...
koltsixx
always good and bad reviews from places. I thought it would for sure come in as apurensis and almost got one myself. Hope rod/kevin make it right for ya with at the least some store credit. I recently ordered from them for the 1st time and was pleasantly surprised, i placed 2 orders after. Fish were correct, in good condition and packed well ??
. Guess i got lucky this round. I think there getting better having kevin in house but i am sad to see it did not go well for u. Rod has “offered up” his phone number on videos. Maybe shoot him a text if emailing doesn’t work. Not sure y they use stock pics. I too “scour” their videos looking for proof of what they have.
