The Mystus ID Thread

[Shovelnose]

Picture : Lal Ram Liana

Mystus bleekeri from Mizoram.

I have requested him to take a few detailed pictures to compare with the Bengal and Madras specimens. Will post them here once I get them.

[Shovelnose]

Pictures : Lal Ram Liana

Mystus bleekeri

from Mizoram.

[Silurus]

I'll have to say even the M. bleekeri from Mizoram does not look like the one from Nepal illustrated in the Cat-eLog.

[The.Dark.One]

Yes, the head and eyes for one look different.

[Shovelnose]

Mystus bleekeri is turning out to be a bigger complex of variants/species than I imagined.

Just got back home from a collection / much needed leisure trip in the Eastern Ghats. I had hoped to collect Mystus from this region as I have seen them here before. With a bit of help from a few unsuspecting friends, I managed to collect around a dozen juvenile specimens.Once the fish are settled, I will take pictures and post them up here.

[Shovelnose]

I had been wanting to collect in the Amirthi River (Eastern Ghats) again as one of the Mystus specimens I have presently was collected from there. I was hoping it would be this one :



I haven't been able to assign a collection locality to this specimen as yet.


I did end up collecting a few juvenile Mystus specimens that do look close to this species but I have a feeling I these are M.vittatus .















What do you think???

[The.Dark.One]

Hi

Hard to tell using live fish as the fontanel isn't always as obviously visible, but the shape and length don't look right for M. vittatus?:

http://www.scotcat.com/articles/m_vittatus2939_2.htm

Looks more like keletius' fontanel?:

http://www.scotcat.com/articles/m_keletius9011_2.htm

[Shovelnose]

Yes, the shape and size do look different from M.vittatus.





Mystus vittatus - Pondycherry


Hopefully, this means another Mystus gets a collection locality and hence, a name. They will need to double in size to be of use, working on that now.

[The.Dark.One]

It will be interesting to see what the fontanel looks like been preserved. They might be the same, but hard to tell on live specimens sometimes.

[Shovelnose]

They might be the same

As in the unknown Mystus and the juvenile Mystus collected recently???

[The.Dark.One]

the juvenile Mystus might be the same as vittatus. In juvenile live specimens the fontanel will sometimes look different to adults. When they have grown and eventually when preserved they need to be cross referenced with vittatus. It will be easier to compare then

[Shovelnose]

I have four M.cavasius and a lone M.seengtee. Thought I could show the differences between the two species. The first specimen is seengtee in both images.



Dorsal fin comparison.




Predorsal profile comparison.

[Shovelnose]

Mystus cf. bleekeri from north western Karnataka (Kali River Drainage). I will have to wait and see what this specimen grows out into (it is around 1.5 inches TL presently).

[Shovelnose]

Mystus bleekeri from Uttar Pradesh.

[Shovelnose]

Specimens from the Ganges drainage in Roorke, Uttarakhand. The largest Mystus cavasius I have seen so far.

[Shovelnose]

From the Krishna Drainage in Maharashtra.





In life.








What do you think HH? Doesn't look like any of the described species does it?

[Silurus]

This fish has a name. I just don't know the correct name to apply to it. Hopefully not the one named for me.

[Jools]

That is as intriguing a reply as I've read in a good while. I didn't know you had a Mystus named after you. Will go check...

Jools

[Silurus]

http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... hp?t=39487

[Shovelnose]

This fish has a name.

I guess it is finally time for me to bite the bullet and read through Plamoottil's papers.

[Shovelnose]

A couple of new additions.

Mystus dibrugarensis

, stress colouration.

Mystus bleekeri

, north east India.

[Shovelnose]

From south-western Maharashtra.

@Silurus, what do you think? Doesn't look like any of the described species?