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I'm not so sure the golden colour should be discounted. It has only been noted in one population of N. ater and if it was present in other species I would have thought it would have cropped up in the studies done by Australian and New Guinea ichthyologists, although I suppose it depends on how much they have been studied.

Let me check my books when I get home and see if I've another key. Which book is that key out of?

The.Dark.One wrote:Which book is that key out of?

The fishes of the Indo-Australian Archipelago Vol II, Weber & Beaufort 1913.

Jools

Ah yes, I have that (twice!).

Well meraukensis is a Porochilus now anyway, bartoni and perugiae are synonyms of brevidorsalis.

I have a more up to date key of the Australian ones (though that is from 1989) and one for the New Guinea ones (1991).

Some species overlap and are found in both islands. It will be easy to just reproduce the keys as they are but they may only be useful if the owner knows the origin of the fish. I could try and merge the two and come up with one but I can't vouch for its accuracy!

Picked up one today as well , any guesses for the I.D ? It has since developed a slight mottled pattern upon settling down as well as a more yellowish colour.

At first glance, N. brevidorsalis

Thanks , will try to take a few more shots of it after it's more settled.

1)

2)

3)


The above are diff specimen. All same species ?

Are they the same size?

If I remember correctly.

Fish 1 : abt 19inches TL.
Fish 2 : abt 16-17 inches TL.
Fishes 3 : 15 inches TL.

Was told they were fm Papua Indonesia.

Those sizes rule out quite a number of New Guinean Neosilurus. However, I cannot find the distinctive features of any other large Neosilurus from New Guinea, so I am forced to conclude they are all the same species.

Thanks, HH.

So can we rule out N ater ?

We can rule out most species except N. ater.

Neosilurus mollespiculum. Quite close as compared to that yellow N. ater.

https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/home/species/3307