Phalacronotus apogon Info

[newyorkmfk]

Anyone have any experience with these. I have one sold to me as apogon, but I feel it could possibly be bleekeri. I’ve had him for 6 months and feel it hasn’t grown at all but I know they get pretty big. Not the best eater. Very shy, usually hides so it’s hard to get a good pic. I’m hoping he puts size on and can go into my bigger tanks...

 

[Fishman Dave]

Would be good to see some more pics if at all possible.
Can you see any dark mark just before the tail?
How big is it currently?

 

[newyorkmfk]

Sorry it’s hard to get a good pic. Here’s one that shows some dark just before the tail. Currently 8-9”... it grew maybe 1-2” the first month I had him then seems to have stopped growing.

 

[GiantFishKeeper101]

That's a long maxillary barbel, it's a Phalacronotus micronemus. I've kept P. apogon before, they grow fast, average of 0.5-1" a month but have no idea about P. micronemus.

 

[Fishman Dave]

I don’t have native experience of this fish but from all the reading I have done, all four species are reported to have maxillary barbles anything between none existent up to reaching the eye.
P. Micronemus should have a defined black spot before the caudal penduncle.
In my humble opinion this could be p. Paravanalis, the smaller growing member of the group, but I honestly still think it looks like p. Apogon to me.

 

[GiantFishKeeper101]

I don’t have native experience of this fish but from all the reading I have done, all four species are reported to have maxillary barbles anything between none existent up to reaching the eye.
P. Micronemus should have a defined black spot before the caudal penduncle.
In my humble opinion this could be p. Paravanalis, the smaller growing member of the group, but I honestly still think it looks like p. Apogon to me.

Each species have different length of maxillary barbel except for parvanalis & micronemus, they're the same length. But then you need to look at other aspects such as their type locality. Parvanalis only found in Borneo, while other 3 the rest of SEA.

The farms that I know that breed this Sheatfish are in Thailand, they're supposedly food fish, great tasting fish. They will use cheaper sources & easy to come by. Most of Phalacronotus in the hobby are from farms, that's why you can get cheaper prices, very rare you see wild ones. More so to think it's not parvanalis.

As for the micronemus, it said that it had dark spots at CAUDAL FIN BASE, not caudal peduncle. So the dark blotches on the caudal fin base are shown its the true species. With that long barbel, it's a P. micronemus.