I had someone else on Reefcentral ID it as a grey bamboo and male. What are we looking at to dertermine the difference? They were stating that it was because the dorsal fin lacks the free rear tip projection seen in the brown banded.
Today is the day!!!
- Thread starter Noobtosalt
- Start date
Here's some additional photos I posted on reef central. The washed out look on the photo's in the tank are just from the camera not due to the animal being stressed.
It's a brown banded bamboo mate. Grey bamboos are purely grey all the way over from juvi to adult. Have a look on google at brown banded bamboo pics, you'll see they all look the same as yours buddy.
Based on the information here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_bamboo_shark it states that the young ones are banded, and I have read many other sources to prove this as well.
It's dark bands on a grey body though. Yours is a brown banded bamboo. Mine looks exactly the same as yours, so do plenty of others in the picture section.
Zookeeper is one of the most knowledgable shark keepers on the net. You won't get any better clarification from anyone on the net.
Zookeeper is one of the most knowledgable shark keepers on the net. You won't get any better clarification from anyone on the net.
A male for sure. You can see his claspers (little finger-like projections hanging under him) in some of those pics.
Also def a brown banded. By the time they are that size, a grey would have a completely uniform color across the body. Brown banded also don't have the fully attached dorsals. IIRC, grey bamboos full dorsal is attached.
Also def a brown banded. By the time they are that size, a grey would have a completely uniform color across the body. Brown banded also don't have the fully attached dorsals. IIRC, grey bamboos full dorsal is attached.
The above two are brownbanded. Look at the inferior rear of the dorsal fins. Do you see the small projections. Like a triangle. Now if you look at the photos of the shark in question, it is absent. Totally different fin structure. I have always thought that this was a key differentiating feature. The bands are similar in brownbanded and grey and in both eventually disappear. Color is always impossible to tell on photos and it is so variable depending on lighting. Take a look and let me know what you think. That is the best I can do without seeing it in person.
If what I'm understanding is correct it is a brown banded. It's dorsal fin is not fully attached at the back of it. Now I'm even more pissed at myself for not verifying all of this before I got the animal home. There is no way this shark is going to be happy in this tank if it's going to continue to grow. I will be contacting the LFS I purchased it at and see what they will do based on the tale I was told it was a grey bamboo shark. Thank you again all for the help but I too agree that this is too large of a shark for the long term to continue in this size tank. If it was to stay this same size it would be a minimum size tank in my eyes.
I just called the LFS and he said that it was sold to him as a grey bamboo and that I shouldn't need to worry about it for a few years. He also has a nurse shark in his shop so I would hope that he is telling me the truth but I completely believe it's a brown banded at this point as well as you guys all do. I told him that I will stay in touch with him over the next few months to decide what to do. He also suggested to only feed it 1 good heavy meal a week and two smaller meals. He said that he fed the shark a krill or dead fish every day but got the good meal once a week. I'm definately not going back to this LFS again after this issue.
I am still sticking with C. griseum. Sharks of the World vol2 - punctatum is the only species of Chiloscyllium that has concave dorsal fin margins. The shark in question clearly does not. Also, the second dorsal fin of C. punctatum has a longer attached base as seen in the pics I posted vs the photos he posted, where it doesn't appear to. Third, the intra-dorsal space is shorter in C. griseum. There is also a noticable difference between his shark and the control photos. Last, look where the dorsal fin begins as compared to the pelvic fins. C. punctatum's dorsal fin is set far anterior - almost both beginning together. With C. griseum, the dorsal fin is set back a little, over the second 1/2 of the pelvic fins.
Compare the examples posted. I've given five reasons why this is not a brownbanded. Despite the residual banding, as coloration is often the least important characteristic , I argue that this is a C. griseum (grey bambooshark). I think your LFS owner is correct.
Compare the examples posted. I've given five reasons why this is not a brownbanded. Despite the residual banding, as coloration is often the least important characteristic , I argue that this is a C. griseum (grey bambooshark). I think your LFS owner is correct.
