Black Kuhli Loach growth?

[jbradt]

I went to my local Petsmart today thinking of adding one or two more black kuhli loaches (P. oblonga) to my 20 long. Currently there are 2 P. oblonga and 4 P. Kuhli. I saw one in the tank that was noticably thinner than the rest. He is active and healthy looking, but way thinner. I picked him up, thinking he may be an oddball of a different species, but after looking at loaches.com, I can't find anything that looks like him. He's the same color as P. Oblonga. When I got my P. Kuhli, they were short and thin and have since grown proportionally. I was wondering if P. Oblonga get longer then fatter or if he could be a different species... or maybe a mutant (think of the superpowers implied by that :headbang2:). Any ideas?

sorry 'bout the lousy pic, it's taken with my phone which is also lousy :wall: but it shows the disproportional length/girth.

Thanks for reading!

[Lupin]

That specimen is too slender to be Pangio oblonga. What's the length? Any clearer pics? Did you look on Pangio anguillaris and Pangio doriae profiles for comparisons?

[jbradt]

He's about 3 inches long. I've looked at both the profiles you mentioned, I was thinking he may be a doriae, but his color is nearly identical to oblonga, so I wasn't sure. I'll get a clearer picture when I can, but I have to borrow a camera for that.

[jbradt]

After having more time to look at him last night, I'm pretty convinced he's P. Doriae. I borrowed a camera and will post a pic tonight. What a cool find!

[Lupin]

Nice fish.:headbang2: Will wait for your pics.:)

[jbradt]

This one is a little better. I'm not much of a photographer yet I'm afraid.