Puffer ID help needed all guesses welcomed

[mountaintoppufferkeeper]

I have probably added pao abei to the fishroom. I have not kept the species before this but may have a few different species to identify. I may have an idea on most but id like any suggestions and guidance as applicable on confirming my initial identifications:

Group #1. Sold while fairly small  Pao abei from a farm in SE asia they are much more patterened over tan gravel than the black sand it covers. 

What is your guess for this group's species? 

Looks to be a male based of belly patterns and behaviors

Look to be females in back corner

Same puffers over the black sand 

Group #2. Also sold as Pao abei from a different source. What is your guess for this group's species?

 

Wildcard #1. Came In with group 2 above. the cheek pattern and the diamond marking on the forhead are not quite the same as the group. The mouth to me is a little more ambush puffer than the group looks. This puffer was also sold as P.abei. What is your guess for this puffer's species?

Wildcard #2 has the look and feel of a young P.suvattii (arrowhead) to me ...also sold as an ....abei. the forhead arrow marking, the cheek line markings, along with a more upturned mouth brought me to arrowhead. What is your guess for this puffer'd species?

No id needed F1 congo fry and whiteworms

 

And for fun

Pao leiurus courtship

T.Pustulatus going full camera pose

[TheSwissAquarist]

Google lens can be pretty useful with rare fish ID imo. 

[Odd Duck]

@mountaintoppufferkeeper No guesses from me but love all the pics and clips!

[mountaintoppufferkeeper]

On 11/14/2023 at 5:06 AM, TheSwissAquarist said:

Google lens can be pretty useful with rare fish ID imo. 

Yeah that gives just about all puffer possibilities and a few extras i do love some google lens. Those paos are tough to determine. I may try one of the researchers off of a google scholar paper to see if they have any insights....particularly on wildcard 1

Edited November 14, 2023 by mountaintoppufferkeeper

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 11/14/2023 at 10:42 PM, mountaintoppufferkeeper said:

Yeah that gives just about all puffer possibilities and a few extras i do love some google lens. Those paos are tough to determine. I may try one of the researchers off of a google scholar paper to see if they have any insights....particularly on wildcard 1

Do you think that it would be possible that there are different locales for these puffers, like with rainbows? 

[mountaintoppufferkeeper]

On 11/15/2023 at 12:14 AM, TheSwissAquarist said:

Do you think that it would be possible that there are different locales for these puffers, like with rainbows? 

For sure but i think part of the issue is some are colocated in the same rivers in the vicinity of the mekong delta. Its going to be a fun process to figure out. The original taxonomy claasifications are what im currently tracking down. 

Slight update is we contacted the exporter who contacted their source and shared that group #1 was not farmed and were wild caught in the "mekong delta". They are also not confident they are abei but note that abei are fairly impoasible to identify when not grown and displaying. 

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 11/16/2023 at 12:29 PM, mountaintoppufferkeeper said:

to identify when not grown and displaying.

Time will tell. Hasn’t ACO had a talk on puffers recently? 

[mountaintoppufferkeeper]

On 11/16/2023 at 11:52 PM, TheSwissAquarist said:

Time will tell. Hasn’t ACO had a talk on puffers recently? 

Indeed. Yeah and they do come up pretty regularly in the oddball talks. I think its more just a function of the collection and export process out of southeast asia. At some point the pao puffers seem like they might get combined and confused in the species identifications. All part of the fun though

[TheSwissAquarist]

Do you import these guys directly? 

[mountaintoppufferkeeper]

On 11/19/2023 at 8:46 AM, TheSwissAquarist said:

Do you import these guys directly? 

Sorry I missed this one ..... i did sort of. My "local" fish store here in Colorado USA is 130 miles north from the house and imported them for me. They reach out whenever a cool puffer is on a list for import. Of course I said yes to those because puffers :).  

I bought the whole group and drove the 3 hours up and 3 hours back to avoid shipping them. 

They are spawning today though. I still am not sure what species they are but its a cool process to compare and contrast with other species ive bred. 

The top one in normal coloration the bottom is a female in courtship dress

The male in courtship dress is fairly nice to the other male here but is defending his chosen cave for spawning. 

The male in the cave is the same male as here. Pao puffers are so awesome with the color, pattern, and behavior changes 

Edited December 1, 2023 by mountaintoppufferkeeper

[Pokey]

Your puffers must be really happy! 😃 They’re just as cute as the little ones.

Do these big ones have the same bad times with worms/parasites as the little pea puffers do?

[mountaintoppufferkeeper]

On 12/1/2023 at 4:38 PM, Pokey said:

Your puffers must be really happy! 😃 They’re just as cute as the little ones.

Do these big ones have the same bad times with worms/parasites as the little pea puffers do?

So far 🙂 ..... I do the med trio and deworm all wild puffers on arrival. Some are in more need than others ive noticed but they all need it for me.  I just assume all wild fish and particularly puffers have some level of worms. After that i just treat as needed.

[Guppysnail]

My attraction to fish is their social dynamics and behaviors much more so than look or color. I enjoy reading about your puffers because they seem like they have that higher level of social dynamic.  Thank you for sharing all your fabulous puffer experiences with the forum. 
My attraction to the forum is because I get to learn and experience vicariously so many fish without the extra tanks and maintenance. 
 

[mountaintoppufferkeeper]

@Guppysnail they do seem to be very interactive for me. I also enjoy learning and experiencing other species through the forum. Its such a great community to be in