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I went to a lfs...then i saw this guy swiming in a small tankwith many other kind of fish..i felt sorry for the guy so i bought him.
What kind of catfish is it?
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/mile_rd_8ball/album?.dir=/8e9f

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I know human beings and fish can co-exist peacefully.

Looks to me like one of several bubble nest building Callichthyidae catfish known as flagtails or hoplos. My money would be with this fellow being M. personata.

I agree with Cup. My first thought was he looked like a porthole cat but there are only 2 species (D. longibarbus and D. urostriatus) and neither of these were close enough matches. After looking through all of the non-Cory catfish in the Callichthyidae on Planetcatfish, M. personata is the only one that I saw that had similar large spots on the caudal fin to robby's catfish.

Last edited by jason_r_s at 31-Mar-2005 10:10

I found out that its a hoplo.he can get 124mm so my tank will be ok for him
But maybe they need to be 2 of them.
I paid 12us$ for him..is that ok price?

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I know human beings and fish can co-exist peacefully.

$12 is a pretty fair price, if they are at least a couple of inches long. They will be happy with more of their kind, though they aren't quite as social as cories. Good luck with the new fish!

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

Hoplos are nice fish, i've kept them in the past. Mine used to come and feed from my hand. I had 2 females and a male but never managed to get them breeding.

Good luck with the fish, and I believe the price you paid was very good. That is however comparing to Australian prices. Mature hoplos cost around the $60 mark.

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Before you criticize someone walk a mile in their shoes. That way you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

Thank you for your quick replies
I would also like to know if my catfish is a he or a she?
Thank you,
Robby

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I know human beings and fish can co-exist peacefully.

yup that is definitely a hoplo. adult hoplos are fairly easy to sex, matured males having prominent, bright orange coloured pectoral fins. These modified fins seem to have some sort of rough edge to it, much like those seen on other male loricariids.

Females, however, lack these distinguishing features, and are also more robust in size. Guessin from ur pic, ur hoplo is still a juvenile, so u'll probably have to wait a year or two to see before it matures.

P: Like many of its other 'catfishy' cousins, those male pectoral fins possess quite a sharp tip, which can inflict pain upon the unwary aquarist.

Ah, Hoplos. Which I still know under the old taxonomic name of Hoplosternum, hence the term 'Hoplo Cats'.

These can grow to be pretty big. About 8 inches. They're considered to be better behaved with smaller fishes than similar sized Catfishes from other Families, but even so, you would be wise not putting too much temptation in its path.

If memory serves, they're bubble nest breeders, in a manner similar but not identical to the Labyrinth Fishes.

They're also a bit on the clumsy side, because of all that heavy armour. Be prepared for your aquascaping to receive a rearrangement as it grows


Last edited by Calilasseia at 01-Apr-2005 10:59

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002