Different Pictus Types?

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Sarah88

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Sep 27, 2009
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Wilmington, NC
Ok so i know there are two different types of pictus but when i try googling them i only find info on the pimelodus. so my question is what are the differences between the two, do they look similar and are they both mixed together at the large chain stores or is only the pim sold at places like petco, i just want to know because since i gave my 2nd pictus to another member on here my remaining one has been hiding alot so i got 2 juvies from petco and am about to add them from quarantine but these guys are a little different, they have a diagonal stripe behind their pectoral fins where its just white and no spots, my other ones never had this but then they were also a bit bigger when i got them, these new guys are the smallest iv ever seen them for sale so is this just a juvie thing that they will grow out of or are they the other type? and if so do they stay around the same size and can they be housed together?
 
The two types of Pims (commonly sold) are pimelodus pictus, and pimelodus blochii.

Pictus cats stay right around 5-6 inches in length and prefer to be kept in groups. They are quite hardy once grown, but like a lot of cats, are suceptible to ich. They are hardy eaters, and rarely turn down food. They are usually a silvery gray color, with black spots all over their body with white bellys. They also have the diagonal 'stripe' behind their heads where no pattern seems to occur.

Blochii are a bit larger than their cousins reaching ~10 inches or so. While they can be kept with other cats, blochii tend to be more territorial than pictus. They are just as hardy, and just as willing to eat anything that can fit in their mouth like any cat. Blochii's often called 4 line pictus are a darker gray with white lines occuring horizontally down the length of the cats body.

I have housed these two together before. One pictus and one blochii. Like many, I didn't even know I had two different cats until one stopped growing at 5 inches and the other kept growing until it hit 9 or so and slowed down. They kept their distance from each other but when the pictus came close to the blochii's cave he would chase him away. Agression was not serious, but it was a 6ft tank.
 
xEchOx;3902999; said:
The two types of Pims (commonly sold) are pimelodus pictus, and pimelodus blochii.

Pictus cats stay right around 5-6 inches in length and prefer to be kept in groups. They are quite hardy once grown, but like a lot of cats, are suceptible to ich. They are hardy eaters, and rarely turn down food. They are usually a silvery gray color, with black spots all over their body with white bellys. They also have the diagonal 'stripe' behind their heads where no pattern seems to occur.

Blochii are a bit larger than their cousins reaching ~10 inches or so. While they can be kept with other cats, blochii tend to be more territorial than pictus. They are just as hardy, and just as willing to eat anything that can fit in their mouth like any cat. Blochii's often called 4 line pictus are a darker gray with white lines occuring horizontally down the length of the cats body.

I have housed these two together before. One pictus and one blochii. Like many, I didn't even know I had two different cats until one stopped growing at 5 inches and the other kept growing until it hit 9 or so and slowed down. They kept their distance from each other but when the pictus came close to the blochii's cave he would chase him away. Agression was not serious, but it was a 6ft tank.
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cool thanks, so they are pretty similar in appearance then? because the two i originally had did not have this blank diagonal going down their body and the one in VRWC tank is probably about 6in now and is about a year old, the one that i still have is about 5in at a few months younger, i have added the 2 new small ones to the big tank, and they swim together along the back of the tank but the larger one is still staying in his cave should i take away the stone he is hiding in so he joins the other 2? i haven't seen the new ones eat since iv put them in there, and haven't seen the larger one eat in a couple weeks since he started hiding under the rock, before when i had the two larger ones together they always came out and were aggressive eaters, and VRWC said the one in his tank is still an aggressive eater who comes out when food hits the tank, i mean im sure they are eating something since they dont really look skinny im just worried they aren't getting enough since my cichlids and bichirs really don't leave any food in the tank
 
no one has anything to add?
 
There is only one 'type' of Pimelodus pictus, but their pattern varies throughout their natural range. Some have the diagonal stripe, some dont, and some have more spots, or bigger spots, than others. Apart from these differences they are all the same fish.

P. blochi is very different and easily id'd. P. ornatus has the diagonal stripes but no spots.

http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/genus.php?genus_id=101#653
 
ok thanks yeah they are definitely spotted will the new ones with the diagonal stripe keep this through adult hood or is it just juvie coloring?
 
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