Largest Callichthyid

Chrysichthys · Post by **Chrysichthys** » 16 Apr 2003, 16:22

What's the largest Callichthyid?

Post by **Silurus** » 16 Apr 2003, 16:28

Callichthys callichthys

Chrysichthys · Post by **Chrysichthys** » 16 Apr 2003, 17:11

I have a pair of either these or Hoplo littorale, but I can't tell which from pictures in the Cat-eLog. The male is 8" long and female 7". The male's front pectoral spines, besides being thickened, curl upwards like a devil's horns.

They were sold as 'Green Porthole catfish.' They're slate gray in colour with a greenish or bluish sheen, like that of Brochis splendens, but less pronounced. No mottling.

Sand's book on South Americans says Callichthys likes slightly brackish water, but I haven't added salt. pH is 7.0

The male has started to take a healthy interest in floating objects, so I would like to know what they are. Very easy to feed them up because they're both hand-tame, to the point of being pests when I'm working on the tank; nuzzling my palms like horses looking for oats.

Post by **Silurus** » 16 Apr 2003, 17:18

It should not be too difficult to tell H. littorale and C. callichthys apart. Hoplosternum has a much shorter body and a slightly forked caudal fin, while Callichthys has a more elongate body and a squared-off caudal fin. the adipose fin on Callichthys is also set very far back, so much so that it is virtually in contact with the caudal fin.
From the sizes, I'd guess it's more likely to be Callichthys.

Chrysichthys · Post by **Chrysichthys** » 17 Apr 2003, 18:39

By all those criteria (apart from size) they check out as Hoplosternum.

Sid Guppy · Post by **Sid Guppy** » 17 Apr 2003, 19:24

I've seen Hoplosternum littorale as big as 22 cm, and Megalechis personata 20 cm; Never saw any Callichthys bigger than 18 cm though.

And pound for pound, a Callichthys or a Hoplosternum of the same length; then the Hoplo (or Megalechis) is much bigger, because of it's much bulkier built.

Callichthys are fairly slender, when viewed from the side. Broad in the head, yes, but still not as massive as an adult maleHoplo littorale IMO....

Achim · Post by **Achim** » 18 Apr 2003, 18:30

Hi,

i agree with Eurystomus being smaller than Hoplosternum and Megalechis. All Callichthys i saw yet (1 species alive and 2 on slides) haven't been bigger than about 13cm. 18cm is pretty large imo. I think they are often confused with Hoplosternum littorale. Callichthys look and behave totally different to the other Callichthyinae and are pretty fascinating fish.

Achim

Post by **Coryman** » 18 Apr 2003, 21:30

From what I remember of the Callichthys callichthys I have seen on the show bench in the past and a large breeding pair a friend had. They grow to about 8" (20 cm) There should be no confusion with their identification at all. The body colour is a uniform grey brown, more to olive when in breeding condition and when breeding both sexes show red under bellies, more so the males. The caudal fin is rounded not and not forked like H. littorale or square as with H.Thoracatum The eys is small and unlike the males of Hoplosternam the pectoral fin spines do not turn skyward at the ends.

Just me getting the memory cell working.

Ian

Sid Guppy · Post by **Sid Guppy** » 19 Apr 2003, 09:49

Thanx Coryman!
Now I know for SURE we're breeding Hoplosternum punctatum, and not some dwarf littorales; because they too, have very straight pectoral spines

H punctatum males.

Pic of Callichthys callichthys found on the web (look at the tail, and the stretched body!)

Bristlenose · Post by **Bristlenose** » 19 Apr 2003, 21:43

I have 3 H. littorale, and they all are at least 7" long. The one male is almost 8".

http://grupe.freehosting.net/Hoplosternum-7small.jpg

Cory_lover · Post by **Cory_lover** » 21 Apr 2003, 06:14

woah..the pic of Callichthys callichthys looks like one of those walking catifshes...haha...C. callichthys looks pretty wierd...much prefer the Hoplo sp.

Sid Guppy · Post by **Sid Guppy** » 21 Apr 2003, 10:36

callichthys are great fun to have. Unfortunately I lost mine in 1990 or so, due to a very bad bacterial infection. I had 2 pairs (raised them from tiny 2") and when I fed the fish, the whole tank sort of exploded.

The best joke was to toss in tubifex. They would dive in the substrate, and 'swim' completely covered under the sand, hunting worms! needless to say after that, I had several interesting floating plant species (Cryptocoryne, Echinodorus etc).

Few cats -only whopping big ones- outdig Callichthys. I'm still looking for replacements, 13 years later. this cat is RARE (at least in the trade)

Chrysichthys · Post by **Chrysichthys** » 23 Apr 2003, 12:26

Callichthys did turn up on my LFS's list a while back, but I didn't have him order them, so don't know if they were correctly identified.