how common is it, to get "other" fish in, with very small wild caught fish...

[Magnum Man]

in other words, is it common for, in the wild, juvenal fish, of various species to hang out together... I would suspect, maybe more likely on egg scatterers, than fish with strong parental traits like most cichlids???

I ordered a couple more of the panda loaches,( Yaoshania pachychilus ) since the 3 I originally ordered, ended up being only 1 by the time it got here... it came in just older than yolk sack... the 2 more I recently ordered, came in the same size,, and one of the 3 definitely looks "different"

I would think it quite possible "strength in numbers" that a big shoal may contain many similar sized fish, possibly of several species??? and on a fish this tiny 1/2 inch or a little bigger, it would be more challenging to get full separation, before disyribution???

 

[GaryE]

"Mixers" or "contaminants" are very common. With Brazilian fish, no, as they have controls. But with small fish from other countries, it's common.There are always oddballs that get in with large wild fish shipments. Often they happen in the holding vats where fish are brought in, but sometimes the local fisherman tries to up his numbers on hard to catch fish.
I've seen shipments where a bag of 100 fish could have 6 or 7 species represented. I got a lot of rare fish that way.

The business has become more careful with these things, and that's a shame. I used to love unpacking shipments, sorting out the mixers and bringing them back to be identified.

 

[Innesfan]

Back before internet fish trading, and when there were still non-chain brick and mortars, I built entire colonies of the lesser-known Nannostomus that weren't yet being imported under their own names by finding by-catch in other Nannostomus and Characin tanks at the shops. Crystal Aquarium on the upper East Side of Manhattan was especially good hunting. I found N. minimus, N. digrammus, N. limatus, N. marilynae among others in tanks dedicated to Hemigrammus saizi (gold tets). Paracheirodon simulans (green neons), cardinals, other Nannostomus, and all the hatchets. Usually the by-catch were in ones, twos and threes but over time I was able to build up decent colonies.

 

[CassCats]

I asked my lfs to find my trigonopoma pauciperforatum, after looking for months. They finally had them pop up on their supplier list and so they ordered them in for me. I got a mixed group of trigonopoma pauciperforatum and trigonopoma gracile. It was a pleasant surprise since I got a mix of both instead of just one odd individual.

That said, I find a lot of bycatch fish and it can be fun trying to identify them, but then also frustrating because it can be too difficult to track down more of them since most often they tend to be schooling fish.

I find getting to know what day your local stores get their stock delivered is a great day to check for bycatch fish

 

[GaryE]

One time, in a bag of Neolebias tetras from Nigeria, I found breeding pairs or groups of 2 lampeyes, 2 Epiplatys (grahami and infrafasciatus), and a Chromaphyosemion. That was the best bag of tetras I ever saw.
I also once found a single green lined, red eyed tetra I could never identify in a rhodostomus rummy nose shipment. It lived for 6 years and would have been a great commercial fish, but I never saw it again, and have never seen a photo of it.

 

[Innesfan]

I asked my lfs to find my trigonopoma pauciperforatum, after looking for months. They finally had them pop up on their supplier list and so they ordered them in for me. I got a mixed group of trigonopoma pauciperforatum and trigonopoma gracile. It was a pleasant surprise since I got a mix of both instead of just one odd individual.

That said, I find a lot of bycatch fish and it can be fun trying to identify them, but then also frustrating because it can be too difficult to track down more of them since most often they tend to be schooling fish.

I find getting to know what day your local stores get their stock delivered is a great day to check for bycatch fish

Love both of them and they almost always come in together. Much like Nannostomus eques and N. unifasciatus. And yes, making note of when your store gets a shipment is a key to success when by-catch fishing. Not many people keep the Copella/Copeina/Pyrrhulina group but they too are prime by-catch subjects. Though some are ruffians.

 

[CassCats]

So fish I've found as bycatch fish:

Many i walked home with (marked with a *) (marked with ** i no longer have)

Pangio doriae*

Pangio shelfordii

Pangio pan04*

Chaetostoma sp (a different species than formosae)

Megalamphodus sweglesi* (this was mixed in rummynose tetras in a store that doesn't sell phantoms, its not rare just a funny mix up)

Inpaichthys kerri ** (again, not a store that sells them, and in with their rummynose)

Different rummynose mixed together

Trigonopoma pauciperforatum* was mixed in the rummynose at petsmart lol with the Kerri!

Trigonopoma gracile* mixed in with the new pauciperforatum i ordered in.

Ceratogarra cambodgiensis * these were mixed in the CHINESE algae eaters at petsmart lol

Brochis ambiacus **

Hoplisoma weitzmani **

Hoplisoma metae

Brochis C102**

Rasbora bankanensis (also in the rummynose tank lol)

Bario forestii* (mixed in the bario sanctaefilomenae)

Here is a photo of sanctaefilomenae to compare, they differ by scale count and lateral line pattern (unbroken in sanctaefilomenae, broken in forestii).

Here's the rummynose tank

I'll be right back with a meme for this

 

[CassCats]