just got a new Polypterus palmas

[sharkthevandal]

just got a new Polypterus palmas to day. its about 3-1/2 " long (approximately), and is one of the coolest fish i have seen at my lfs. dose any one else out there have one of these. how fast do they grow?

 

[Fruitbat]

Polypterus palmas, the Shortfin or Marbled Bichir, regardless of the subspecies (P. palmas polli, P. palmas palmas or P. palmas buettikoferi) is a great fish! Though I don't have any of them now, I used to keep many species of Polypterus and never met one I didn't like.

At 3 1/2 inches yours is just a baby!! They get up to about 12 inches when fully grown. The growth rate will depend on how heavily you feed him. He probably won't reach his mature size for at least a year or two. Polypterids are very long-lived, possibly as long as 30 years, so be prepared to have him around for a while!!!

All Polypterus are carnivorous and will do their best to catch any fish that they can swallow, especially when the lights are out. They are also consummate escape artists so a well-covered tank is a must! When they get large it is generally a good idea to weight the top so they can't push it open.

Great find!!!

 

[sharkthevandal]

thanks fruitbat. i was amazed that any of the lfs in the moscow pullman area would have one of these. one of my buddies told be there was one the the fish store in pullman and i went and got it right after class. picked it up for $15 is that a good price for him?

 

[Christmasfish]

bichir

I just got a baby Nile bicher. So cute, it is also a wee baby.
eats everything! Bloodworms, brine, pellets, sardine, scallop, shrimp, perch. The list climbs. I bought a frozen package of baby sand gobies at the market I frequent. I cannot imagine them for human consumption except as a soup.. ^.^ I'll feed him those next month.

 

[Fruitbat]

sharkthevandal....

$15 is an EXCELLENT price for any Polypterid!! I usually see palmas going for $30.00 around here....if they ever show up for sale!

 

[madasafish]

P. palmas is hard to find!! P. senegalus meridionalis are usually sold under the name P. palmas erroniously. Check out pics of both on the net to make sure you really have P. palmas. If you do not, you're looking at a 1.5-2 foot Polypteriform rather than 1 foot one.

Mind you, I disagree with fruitbat a little ... I find Polypterus spp. for $10-15 all the time in NYC (I suppose this is a better area to buy, though), and got my P. senegalus and P. senegalus meridionalis for $12 or so. They were both about 7 or 8 inches when I got them. For a true P. palmas this is a good price, though!!

Polypteriforms are very cool!! Check out the ropefish if you've never seen one before.

My brother and his wife live in Pullman. What store did you go to? That'd be so funny if you go to the same place they go to!

 

[Fruitbat]

I wish polypterids came into the Dallas area more frequently...then they would be cheaper. I've seen P. senegalus fairly often in the $12 - $20 range. The last P. palmas palmas I saw was $30. One of my lfs has two tiny P. ornatipinnis that they're asking $39.95 apiece for. If I had my soon-to-be-acquired 75gallon tank right now I'd snap them up that that price!! Of course, P. ornatipinnis is one of the larger polypterids and would eventually be cramped in a 75 gallon.

 

[sharkthevandal]

madasafish,
i got this guy at barnacle bills, but i normally go to pet service center in moscow.

 

[madasafish]

That's the one!! Yeah, my bro had to trade his angelfish into Barnacle Bill's (is it a chain, or is the only store?) a while back because of aggression.

Cool

 

[sharkthevandal]

yea it's a pretty good store. it get's some pretty rare fish some times it had a black arowanna a few months back. it is the only store not a chain.

 

[ccplim]

just got a new Polypterus palmas to day. its about 3-1/2 " long (approximately), and is one of the coolest fish i have seen at my lfs. dose any one else out there have one of these. how fast do they grow?

Hi sharkthevandal, which kind of plamas did you actually bought? Plamas plamas or plamas polli? I am still trying hard to tell the difference between the two.

Any one have any idea?

 

[Fruitbat]

There are three subspecies of Polypterus palmas. These are: P. palmas palmas, P. palmas polli, and P. palmas buettekoferi. The three can be quite difficult to distingush but here is some information that might help:

1) Polypterus palmas palmas - Comes from the Cavally River basin in Côte d'Ivoire and the river basins of eastern Liberia up to the St. John River. Dorsal surface of the body is grey colored, with dark grey to black irregular blotches forming a dense and reticulate pattern, ventral surface uniform pale. The fleshy base of the pectoral fin with small spots on the posterior part. Dorsal fin spotted, no dark coloration on pelvic and anal fin.

2) Polypterus palmas polli - Comes from Central Africa: Lower and central Congo basin. Dorsal surface and flanks with large black blotches, forming a dense reticulate pattern, ventral surface uniform pale. The fleshy base of the pectoral fin with a large grey to black spot. Dorsal fin spotted, pectoral fin with a striped pattern in some specimens, pelvic fin pale and anal fin sometimes slightly colored.

3) Polypterus palmas buettekoferi - Comes from West Africa: Known from the Upper Casamance River in Senegal to the Saint Paul River in western Liberia. Dorsal surface of the body is grey colored, ventral surface uniform pale. The flanks have numerous small grey spots; the specimens of Guinea and Senegal show a few large, well-separated blotches on the flanks. The fleshy base of the pectoral fin grey colored on the posterior side. Dorsal fin spotted, pelvic fin unpigmented, pectoral, caudal and anal fins dark.

Good luck!

 

[Christmasfish]

How can you really tell the species when they are little. Mine is now nearly three times his starting size and he looks like a different fish with the coloration and body shape hange. Still has a cute froggy face.
(oh and the gobies I was giving him peices of maybe ....he eats 3-4 whole already)

 

[ccplim]

There are three subspecies of Polypterus palmas. These are: P. palmas palmas, P. palmas polli, and P. palmas buettekoferi. The three can be quite difficult to distingush but here is some information that might help:

1) Polypterus palmas palmas - Comes from the Cavally River basin in Côte d'Ivoire and the river basins of eastern Liberia up to the St. John River. Dorsal surface of the body is grey colored, with dark grey to black irregular blotches forming a dense and reticulate pattern, ventral surface uniform pale. The fleshy base of the pectoral fin with small spots on the posterior part. Dorsal fin spotted, no dark coloration on pelvic and anal fin.

2) Polypterus palmas polli - Comes from Central Africa: Lower and central Congo basin. Dorsal surface and flanks with large black blotches, forming a dense reticulate pattern, ventral surface uniform pale. The fleshy base of the pectoral fin with a large grey to black spot. Dorsal fin spotted, pectoral fin with a striped pattern in some specimens, pelvic fin pale and anal fin sometimes slightly colored.

3) Polypterus palmas buettekoferi - Comes from West Africa: Known from the Upper Casamance River in Senegal to the Saint Paul River in western Liberia. Dorsal surface of the body is grey colored, ventral surface uniform pale. The flanks have numerous small grey spots; the specimens of Guinea and Senegal show a few large, well-separated blotches on the flanks. The fleshy base of the pectoral fin grey colored on the posterior side. Dorsal fin spotted, pelvic fin unpigmented, pectoral, caudal and anal fins dark.

Good luck!

Hi fruitbat, thanks for the detailed description. However, I feel that I still need lots of practice in order to identify them. The most common ones we have over here is plamas polli and so far, none of us seems to come across any plamas plamas yet (or maybe there is but we do not know). And sad to say, plamas buettekoferi is totally not available in this area

Well, a picture says a thousand words. I have posted some pictures of my polli and the unknown species that I got. Maybe some kind bros here would be able to identify through the pictures (keeping my fingers crossed)?

http://ImageEvent.com/ccplim/privite/plamasunknown

Thanks in advance for all the help.

 

[Menagerie]

Vandal--For what it's worth, I found Bill, of Barnacle Bill's to be a fish snob. He was very unhelpful (down right insulting) when I tried to set up my first tank. I was so excited, I had done all the research and was asking questions and I left there feeling smaller than dirt!!
I really appreciated the help from the guys at Pets are People Too not only while setting up the tank, but they did water tests and were very patient when I brought in an impulsively bought catfish from Spokane and I could not identify it. Pet Service Center at Eastside was opening while I was writing up my thesis so I never got to shop there.

 

[Fruitbat]

All I can say definitively is that your Polypterus palmas polli is identified correctly. Notice the dark spot on the fleshy part of the pectoral fin on your specimen (typical of polli). Unfortunately...none of your pictures shows the same feature on your unknown Polypterus. If I had to venture an educated guess...I'd say your unknown is probably Polypterus palmas palmas. The thing that leads me to this conclusion is the lack of a dark spot visible (at least in the pictures) on the pectoral fins of your unknown. The pectorals on P. palmas buettekoferi should be dark and your unknown certainly does NOT have that characteristic.

 

[ccplim]

All I can say definitively is that your Polypterus palmas polli is identified correctly. Notice the dark spot on the fleshy part of the pectoral fin on your specimen (typical of polli). Unfortunately...none of your pictures shows the same feature on your unknown Polypterus. If I had to venture an educated guess...I'd say your unknown is probably Polypterus palmas palmas. The thing that leads me to this conclusion is the lack of a dark spot visible (at least in the pictures) on the pectoral fins of your unknown. The pectorals on P. palmas buettekoferi should be dark and your unknown certainly does NOT have that characteristic.

If that is really a P. plamas, then I am really one lucky guy as we have never really seen one in the lfs b4

Maybe I should try to get some more pics for better ID

 

[Fruitbat]

That would definitely help. Try to get good shots of the pectorals, ventrals and anal fin. Those are the most diagnostic features that we have to work with.

 

[ccplim]

That would definitely help. Try to get good shots of the pectorals, ventrals and anal fin. Those are the most diagnostic features that we have to work with.

Okie dokie! I will try my best to get a few more shots. This guy is actually quite shy.