farowella vs whiptail

[paramedic07]

Got into an interesting discussion that my farowellas i have are whip tails, not farowellas. From my understanding "whip tail" is a general term for the bigger grouping of related fishes that are farowella like and that the two are the same. yet i see that the sucker mouths refered to as "whip tails" have bigger caudual and dorsal fins along with a thicker body compared to most farowellas.

the more i look it up, the more i'm getting myself confused.

[mewickham]

The thing about common names is that they aren't the most accurate way to describe a fish. They vary by region. They fall out of disuse to be replaced by a different common name. And they often apply to more than one species. I can't say that I've ever heard "whiptail catfishes" applied as an overall term to both whiptail and farlowella catfishes. That doesn't mean that some wouldn't use it that way.

The whiptail catfish and farlowellas are somewhat similar. Whiptails have flatter, wider bodies. In the trade, Rhineloricaria parva, formerly Loricaria parva, is probalby the most common example sold as whiptail catfish. Farlowellas, such as Farlowella acus, have much slimmer bodies, which is why "twig catfish" or "stick catfish" are common names for them. Of course, you then have the so-called "Royal Farlowella," Sturisoma aureum which is much wider (though also taller) in front, but even more sticklike in back.

[dennysfishroom]

You might want to try Planet Catfish. They list the various species as L-numbers

http://www.planetcatfish.com/core/index.php

Denny

[paramedic07]

this is making my head hurt .