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Another "SAE or Flying Fox" thread

4K views 23 replies 15 participants last post by  Raizinhell 
#1 ·
Hi everyone, I've read about 100 different threads about determining if you have a true Siamese Algae Eater, but I'm still second guessing myself with the fish I bought. Here are a few photos of the fish while I was floating them in my tank. A few notes:

They're kinda stressed in these pics from the move, so their stripe is pretty faded.

They definitely only have 1 pair of barbells.

They had the "tripod" stance at the petstore, resting on their fins.

They were labeled as Flying Fox.

Thanks for your help!


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#6 ·
Thanks to all for the answers, even though it's not the answer I wanted to hear. For my own future reference, from everything I read, I should be looking for a jagged black stripe, no gold stripe, no color in the fins, and single barbells. These fish match all 4 of those things. What did I do wrong? What is the defining characteristic that tells you they're Flying Fox? I want to make sure I don't make the same mistake again =)
 
#8 · (Edited)
Willcooper is not correct. And SAE's only have a single set of barbels whereas Flying Foxes & "faux sae's" have 2 sets.
SAE's black line normally extends only to the beginning of the tail fin, but at times, it can bleed slightly into the tail fin, whereas in Flying Foxes it extends pretty much evenly, right to the inner scissors tip of the tail.
So imo jellopuddingpop, you were right in the first place - you have SAE's.
 
#9 ·
Willcooper is correct. And SAE's only have a single set of barbels whereas Flying Foxes & "faux sae's" have 2 sets.
So imo jellopuddingpop, you were right in the first place - you have SAE's.
Thanks Paul. This stupid fish is so hard to I'D. Someone should start some sort of GMO project so the true SAE's are neon pink. That'll stop all the discussion!

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#10 ·
Also, SAE's coloration is limited to an even gray color above the bar & off-white/light gray below - throughout, with just the black bar running through the center of the body, whereas Flying Foxes generally have other colorations - e.g. many have a gold striping above the black bar, and some even have a reddish bar as well.
Googling images of these 2 separate species will usually show that type of difference in their respective colorations.
 
#12 ·
They're maybe 2" and very slender. They were only at the fish store for a couple of days, and the owner said they were emaciated when he got them. I watched them chow down on some zucchini, so I think they were just skinny from the fish farm (or wherever they came from)

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#13 ·
Whether they are SAE or not is debatable. What they are not is flying fox. I have seen tanks with flying fox and these or similar mixed in. The flying fox were very obvious.
 
#16 ·
Ok so you can tell if they are SAE by the long stripe across the body. If this is a perfect line then no they are not SAE if this bleeds into the body slightly blurred effect then yes they are. Also the line does go into their tail this is correct. See this article this helped me.
http://www.fishlore.com/aquariummagazine/may08/siamese-algae-eater-id.htm







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#17 ·
These are certainly SAEs by all of the pictures you've posted. I would put money on it. Stripe through the caudal fin and no colour in the dorsal is a giveaway at any size. I personally wouldn't depend on something like body shape or other coloration (grey on top, gold stripe...), too much due to the variability within the species. I've two SAEs who look nothing alike, the dominant is far darker and heavier set than its counterpart, but they both have pale dorsals and stripe through the caudal.
 
#18 ·
I owned a trio of them from about 1inch to full size, looking back at pics they looked just like the first pic when i first got them. Later on they developed a darker upper body. The place the stripe stopped was different on all three. One had it stop just at the caudal fin and the other two had some amount of color bleed. All had jagged stripping. No color in the dorsal.
I want to get some again but I just wouldn't trust them with all my dwarf shrimps :(
 
#23 · (Edited)
All of them are SAE. The flying fox, fake SAE and the SAE are easily distinguishable by the black stripe seeming to thin out at the tail fin. The zigzag pattern of the black stripe also sets the SAE apart from flying foxes. What many people don't know is that there are several species of SAE which looks almost identical with each other. The real one is called c. Siamensis, there are also c. langei, and c. Atrilime which may not even be all of the sub species of crossocheilus Siamensis. I'm no scientist but I heard mixed opinions on the true c. Siamensis. Some say it has the black spot, others say the ones with the black spot loves to eat moss. Who knows but one thing is for sure, the real c. Siamensis prefer algae over moss. I been hoping for someone to figure this all out 4 years ago. This may become one of those things that we will never know. Just buy and hope to get the real one. Though many people can agree that all SAE species are comfortably eating algae when young.
 
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