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i just got a new bichirs about 2 week ago, i like this particular bichir , because of the wing like things sticking out above his two fin( from what i know only this particular species have this feature).....apart from my ornate, albino senegal and senegal this is my four bichirs.

Can't seem to determine or confirm the species of this bichir from the website, sorry dun hav a cam to take down photo to post here. But it is written as a dehelzi in my lfs, can't match any of the pic written as dehelzi with mine in the web.

Any help is welcome !

That's cuz it's spelled delhezi.

All bichirs can have external gills like you're seeing on this one bichir. It's a matter of genes, not species.

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

because of the wing like things sticking out above his two fin( from what i know only this particular species have this feature

Sounds like you have a young specimen that still has its external gill structures....those will be absorbed before long, as the fish matures.

thk for the spelling correction Shinigami

but lm quite such that is not an external gills for the bichir, although mine is still small i have seen bigger version of that bichir in other lfs with that feather like thing above its fin or just behind his head. could it be 2 different kind of delhezi ?

i may have mistaken it as other species of bichir cause the lfs has lot of kind of bichir in the same tank.

ermm....sorry for all the trouble guy i try my best to find a picture or two in the web...manage to get some from other website...

notice the fifth name delhezi picture starting from the the top, that is the bichir which is similar to mine...notice any different from the rest of the delhezi pic ?

http://www.predatoryfish.net/ibforums/index.php?s=4bfaa03b3a04b38b0113b771c306806e&act=ST&f=18&t=33214&st=0

although the pic is abit blur, but the feather like thing is there...which other delhezi pic bichir dun have....it also doesn't have the band as obvious as the other delhezi bichir i normally found in the web

lm not saying mine is a e.endlicheri....as lm not sure of anything , but notice the second e.endlicheri pic from the same website i posted....it have the feather like thing too

but lm quite such that is not an external gills for the bichir

Take it from somebody who owns 50+ of these guys...those are external gills. All bichirs have them as fry, and some species and individuals absorb them earlier than others....P. delhezi, and especially P. endlicheri ssp. retain the external gills longer than other species within the family.

humm....u mean it will disappear one day , or get absorb into its gills ?
Even for e.endlicheri ?

i still thought (the external gill) will stay and grow longer as the bichir get bigger.

It sure looks cool to have it

any other way to determine whether mine is a delhezi or a e.endlicheri when small ?

I am afraid that the external gills will disappear before long...sorry.

Very easy to determine between the two species (which actually look quite different), how many dorasl 'finlets' does your bichir have?

LoL, perhaps I was somewhat off on what determines the existence of the gills, but I'm pretty sure that, at the very least, Endlicheris have been bred for larger or longer-lasting external gills.:%)

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

Its possible, but P. e. endlicheri already retain their external gill-structures far longer than any of the other known species.

Very easy to determine between the two species (which actually look quite different), how many dorasl 'finlets' does your bichir have?

ermm.....count up to 11-12 until the tail part

Then you have a P. delhezi....P. endlicheri ssp. have quite a few more.

ok....thank alot Toirtis n everyone else, get to know afew more thing about bichir, again get cheated by lfs, it is them who told me about the feather thing that only occur in delhezi....wonder if they ever study about all this thing at all...even talk to me with such great confidence, hah !

If i ever get another chance on another bichir, i will try on a P. endlicheri

Any info on them ? hope the price is not too ex...expected a higher price than delhezi...

In Singapore, P. e. endlicher8i can be had relatively inexpensively to here in North America, where they typically run $100-$250 each.