Mouse Helicopter & Helicopter @Ben

[anaconda]

Anyone who been to Ben@TB can identify whats the Helicopter he has in the tanks there and the Mouse Helicopter he has there?

I been reading the forum most say the helicopter is a Sturisoma . But no idea which Sturisoma it is. I understand there are quite a few types of Sturisoma

Anyone can enlgihten me?

[michael lai]

Hi Anaconda,
You are correct, the 'helicopter' we lovingly refer to is from the family Sturisoma. If I'm not mistaken, those commonly sold are Sturisoma Festivum and S. Aureum. I think the difference between them is the size and length of the 'nose'. Got to ask the experts here... They are also commonly known as the Farlowella catfish. The only other species I've seen is S. Nigrirostrum which auntie(C32 sometimes bring in, the black farlowella. Anyway, it's a lovely addition to any planted tank. Have fun.

[anaconda]

Hi Michael

Thanks for the info. I saw the one at Ben it has a shorter snout . The one at NA is much bigger with a longer snout. I was reading that there is this Sturisoma P....(cant remember how to spell it) thats also been seen in the market, could it be that

The Mouse Helicopter doesnt look like the others at all, it has a broader body all around rather then tapering off to a very thin tail like the normal helicopter I see. I search around there is this Hemiloricaria parva thats also called a Helicopter...seems to be similar to the one i saw at Ben

Are these fishes good algae eaters? Ben's tank with them and without them are very distinct by the difference in amount of algae

[mickthefish]

i think your trying to say panamense, thats the most common sturisoma over here in the UK.
mick

[benny]

Looks anything like this?

Cheers,

[mickthefish]

to be honest benny, that looks like an aureum to me, the panamense has a richer colour, it's hard to explain but it's deeper in colour than the aureum,
rgds mick

[ranmasatome]

is colour the only way to tell them apart?

[mickthefish]

no not really, but it's a good indication of the species also on the panamense that i used to keep there were far more markings on the finnage and the body, btw it's only my opinion that bennys fish is an aureum.
mick

[michael lai]

Hi Michael

Thanks for the info. I saw the one at Ben it has a shorter snout . The one at NA is much bigger with a longer snout. I was reading that there is this Sturisoma P....(cant remember how to spell it) thats also been seen in the market, could it be that

The Mouse Helicopter doesnt look like the others at all, it has a broader body all around rather then tapering off to a very thin tail like the normal helicopter I see. I search around there is this Hemiloricaria parva thats also called a Helicopter...seems to be similar to the one i saw at Ben

Are these fishes good algae eaters? Ben's tank with them and without them are very distinct by the difference in amount of algae

Hi anaconda,
Yup, Sturisomas are great algae eaters but only when they are young( small ) I've got a 6" pair at home that does nothing but laze around. The picture benny posted I suspect it's also S.Aureum. For S. Panamense, the overall body is much stouter not as elongated as Aureum or Festivum. Colour wise I think the 3 of them looks almost the same except for the markings.
As for Hemiloricaria Parva, personally I've not seen them around before. They belong to the Loricaria family. They are known as scavengers not really algae eaters. Hemiloricaria Morrowi I've seen at C328 but that was quite some time ago and I've not seen them since.

[anaconda]

This is a picture of the Helicopter that my colleague got from Ben@TB

There is a red nose shrimp in front of it

[michael lai]

It looks like a juvenile S.Aereum. maybe the others could help here.

[stormhawk]

What in the world is this Mouse Helicopter? Does anyone have a pic of the fish in question? It is boggling me already.

[mickthefish]

i like the name stormhawk, in the UK they are called the royal whip-tails,
it's trade names that sell the fish i'd prefer it if they used the scientific name.
mick

[anaconda]

What in the world is this Mouse Helicopter? Does anyone have a pic of the fish in question? It is boggling me already.

No pics but Ben has a tank of them. They look like the Hemiloricaria Parva pictures i saw on the web

[mickthefish]

hi anaconda, we just call them the common whip-tail, in a way they are a pretty boring fish they only move when food is about, and they're mainly a meat eater, one interesting thing about them is they have emerald green eggs , if you turn the female upside down you can see the eggs through the body.
mick

[michael lai]

No pics but Ben has a tank of them. They look like the Hemiloricaria Parva pictures i saw on the web

Hi anaconda,
Went down to Ben's place yesterday evening. This mouse helicopter belongs to the Rineloricaria family. I believe it's the Rineloricaria Hasemani, not Hemiloricaria Parva. Very different from the Sturisoma family and not really that fantastic as a algae eater but nevertheless a very interesting beginner's catfish.

[joe]

Pic taken for anaconda

[anaconda]

Hi anaconda,
Went down to Ben's place yesterday evening. This mouse helicopter belongs to the Rineloricaria family. I believe it's the Rineloricaria Hasemani, not Hemiloricaria Parva. Very different from the Sturisoma family and not really that fantastic as a algae eater but nevertheless a very interesting beginner's catfish.

Thanks for the ID , Michael

[michael lai]

No problem, you're most welcome. I was like brother Stormhawk, what the heck is a 'mouse helicopter'? I guess curiosity got the better of me.

[CacaManiac]

they doo look very fragile.. like might break,.