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I've got a pair of 4" juvenile Rhinelepis available to me but it's not clear which species they are.
Does anyone know of a way to determine one from the other at such a small size?

Any info is appreciated as I've not found a whole lot out there.

Hi

A very interesting and fascinating genus! Do yourself a favour and buy them!

R. strigosa is supposed to have a rougher surface, expressing itself with more odontodes. Personally I am not sure we are really dealing with two species. Having in mind their maximum size and the possible distribution range of large species it is not unlikely that Rhinelepis is monotypic and R. aspera will -one day- turn out as a junior synonym.

I kept a group myself for some years and they are gorgeous, but have a really strong metabolism and need a lot of food.

Thanks so much for the input. I'd read about the difference in texture but really can't see any in the videos of the fish that were sent to me.

The only difference that I can see is that one is dark green and the other is black. It appears that the green fish had 7 soft rays in it's dorsal while the black fish has 8. Other than that, they look identical.

What was the behavior and growth rate like for the fish you owned?