Lower Jaw variants w/pics

koltsixx

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Great thread, lovin' the Poly pics everyone and the info. including the map. Makes me hate the fact I've had bad luck with them and currently don't have a tank I could dedicate to them. I was also thinking about coming around this section more and seeing if I could be of any assistance. Even considered making this a sticky then saw you guys have a butt load of them already. Wish there was a way I could tidy it up and perhaps start fresh updated stickies for you guys to contribute to.

While I love the pics, I've never been any good at telling some Polys apart. I imagine I'm not alone and especially those new to Polys would have the same problem. That being said if you guys could point out some ways you're able to identify them from one another, distinguishing characteristics of a species and regional variant it'd help me. What seems apparent to you might be missed by the untrained eye such as my own. For instance I wasn't able to tell one species of Payara from another until after keeping most species of Payara myself. After that I became able to easily distinguish one species from another even in photos. As well as point out the characteristics to help others.

And though I don't have the space, I'd like to know if Toyin is still the major vendor to go to as far as Polys go. I had his website but now it leads me to something that doesn't really show me what he has available if he's still selling polys.

Regardless I just want to say again, great thread and contributions guys.
 

kno4te

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koltsixx koltsixx please join us here in the poly bandwagon. There's always room for more. No worries there's always confusion with ID'Ing these fish. I mess it up about 1 per 1-2 months. These guys forgive me and get my back.

The poly crew is active and up for sure.

Toyin still sells polys. Getting a hold of him can be a problem. But he still has all the wild caught stuff that's addictive.
 

koltsixx

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koltsixx koltsixx please join us here in the poly bandwagon. There's always room for more. No worries there's always confusion with ID'Ing these fish. I mess it up about 1 per 1-2 months. These guys forgive me and get my back.

The poly crew is active and up for sure.

Toyin still sells polys. Getting a hold of him can be a problem. But he still has all the wild caught stuff that's addictive.
Lol, sounds a little ominous, there's always room for one more. As for ID'ing I can barely tell the difference between a lap and endli, so I might test their patients more then you. Still it is encouraging to hear that they always have your back. And I do love Polys.

I love a lot of fish but I think my top choices would be in no particular order Crenicichla, Polys, Aros, Gars, Auchenipteridae and cats in general. With some other odds and ends species like Siniperca Scherzeri and Scatophagus Tetracanthus.

I've dealt with Toyin so i know how he can be. Never understood why getting a response from him can be so tedious at times. So does he have a list or you basically just gotta email/ text him? And is his email/ phone number still the same? I think the last time I dealt with him was about a year ago.
 

kno4te

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I think it's the same number. Email takes a while. I'm sure one of the guys/gals on here can pm you the number.

He has a list and tries to update it but calling and seeing what's in stock is the best way. Things move quick for him. Most of his big and rare stuff go to Asia I believe.

Yea koltsixx koltsixx that's a nice fish list to want and a lower jaw would fit right in their with the fish you mentioned.
 

koltsixx

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I think it's the same number. Email takes a while. I'm sure one of the guys/gals on here can pm you the number.

He has a list and tries to update it but calling and seeing what's in stock is the best way. Things move quick for him. Most of his big and rare stuff go to Asia I believe.

Yea koltsixx koltsixx that's a nice fish list to want and a lower jaw would fit right in their with the fish you mentioned.
Thanks kno4te kno4te , I appreciate the info. Maybe I'll send one of them a pm and ask later today.

Can I ask where is his list? Is it on his site or does he email it to you? I'm imagining email because his site is pretty barren.

Thanks, I have most of what I like, just missing some things here and there. Though it was said stock that didn't get along too well with my Polys. Out competed them for food and the Auchenipteridae would scare them at night causing the Polys to jump on me. Thanks again kno4te.
 

jaws7777

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Lol, sounds a little ominous, there's always room for one more. As for ID'ing I can barely tell the difference between a lap and endli, so I might test their patients more then you. Still it is encouraging to hear that they always have your back. And I do love Polys.

I love a lot of fish but I think my top choices would be in no particular order Crenicichla, Polys, Aros, Gars, Auchenipteridae and cats in general. With some other odds and ends species like Siniperca Scherzeri and Scatophagus Tetracanthus.

I've dealt with Toyin so i know how he can be. Never understood why getting a response from him can be so tedious at times. So does he have a list or you basically just gotta email/ text him? And is his email/ phone number still the same? I think the last time I dealt with him was about a year ago.
Hey man havig you join the bandwagon would be awesome. About the id'ing.... i still have issues with it lol some of us have better eyes than other when looking for the small details. Its a great topic because so little is known about the species there really isnt any one right or wrong answer. We have no idea if they migrate during rainy/drought/mating seasons. The endli debate is the best because most of the endli available lately are from two lications in guinea (faranah and dabola) and the black volta river. The voltas do look very different than the guinea endli. The easiest to notice is thick banding on the volta's secondly would be the headshape is more boxish/rounder towards the snout on the voltas.

1st 3 are black volta, 4,5,6 are faranah (4th pic counted as 1 pic)and 7,8,9 are daboladownloadfile-16.jpg 2017-02-01 14.27.19.jpg 2017-02-01 14.25.49.jpg 1001895-d7efa8995b20df4b1ab0f94f93b750c7.jpg 20170122_081109.jpg 2017-02-01 20.22.05.jpg proxy-14.jpg downloadfile-42.jpg downloadfile-8.jpg
The debate regarding the faranah vs dabola is interesting because faranah have even flatter heads than dabola and their patterns are a little different too. Feel like the faranah bands extend further towards the belly. Its hard for me to wrap my head around the differences between these two. Dabola and faranah are so close together on the map and at some point the water way have to connect or even further up the river chain the tinkisso and niger are both connected. It seems too close to say hey all faranah have x traits that are different from dabola but they are their in our fish so im probably wrong

Faranah and dabola side by side

997468-eb3e44ba839aa007e938e06213af7270.jpg

One last thing ignore the base color (brown/tan/grey) Vancouver_98683 Vancouver_98683 once pointed out that it changes frequently with each individual fishes mood and it definitly rings true
 

kno4te

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Thanks kno4te kno4te , I appreciate the info. Maybe I'll send one of them a pm and ask later today.

Can I ask where is his list? Is it on his site or does he email it to you? I'm imagining email because his site is pretty barren.

Thanks, I have most of what I like, just missing some things here and there. Though it was said stock that didn't get along too well with my Polys. Out competed them for food and the Auchenipteridae would scare them at night causing the Polys to jump on me. Thanks again kno4te.
The stock and fish selection aren't too bad for a lower jaw. Probably more toward the lapradei side. If they are wild caught then won't too much at all. Competition would be more toward the other fish and against the polys.

I've kept some of the drift wood cats with lower jaw polys without issue. The wood cats were much bolder than the polys.

The concern would be the pikes though but the others would be fine. See what the other members say.
 

magpie

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Loving this thread! This is so what I wanted back when I first started coming in here. (Also, I didn't know there was a White Volta...)

Does anyone have a straight list with all of the variations or is that just crazy to ask for?

koltsixx koltsixx - I agree that this is sticky-worthy. I also agree that we have some outdated stickies up top and it could probably use some refreshing. Still some keepers up there for sure though.
 
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