# rhom or altuvie



## dutchfrompredator (Sep 26, 2004)

alright serra pros. you know who you are......i posted some photos of what i bought as a "black piranha" and is now about six inches long. i've always thought and been told he's a rhom. a member pm'd this to me and has provoked my curiosity. he makes some very good points here. anyone with experience see anything that makes them go either way?

"my initial reaction to seeing your fish was that its' not a rhom. I'm looking at a few traits that set it off, first is how pointy the snout is, the eyes are not completely red yet more black like the link below. Another sign is the elongate spots on the dorsum area that do not extend down below the lateral line. The last thing is the roundness of the body and how it seems that from where the belly and the jaw come together is more upturned in your fish. Where, in what i'm think about rhoms, is it's more straight from the front of the jaw to the anal fin. lemme know what you think. "

i have more photos if needed. the last one is older than the first three. thanks for looking and hopefully sharing insights.


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## fishofury (May 10, 2003)

Looks like a S. compressus to me


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## Death in #'s (Apr 29, 2003)

fishofury said:


> Looks like a S. compressus to me
> 
> 
> 
> ...










i second that


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## marco (Jan 2, 2003)

i also say compressus, due the bars oh his body above his lateral line.


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## ANDONI (Jul 11, 2004)

Looks like an altuvie, Compressus and Altuvie resemble each other. You have a awsome rare piranha.


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## dutchfrompredator (Sep 26, 2004)

thanks a lots guys. i really appreciate it. so we're sticking with compressus or altuvie most likely? any input from our opefe expert?


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## dutchfrompredator (Sep 26, 2004)

here's another photo where it's easier to see his markings and color.


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## traumatic (Jan 29, 2003)

hastatus said:


> Yes they do, which is why collection point is required for positive ID. Both S. altuvei and S. compressus are difficult fish to separate just by looking at them and even harder by photo.
> [snapback]724574[/snapback]​


I've been looking all over this site and opefe trying to find slight differences in the two. The size is throwing me off. That's a great pic dutch.


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## dutchfrompredator (Sep 26, 2004)

i guess it's the best i can do without sending my fish to frank or something. i found the exact same fish in some photo's from george's that he was selling a while back. i asked him to let me know what they were in his forum. i'm almost positive it's one of these guys. anyone remember what george was selling these fellas as? if i find that out i think i'll have a winner.







personality-wise i can say he's typical serra. very territorial and agressive in his spoken for area of the tank, hates the magfloat with a passion, huge feeder fan, finicky with frozen food, only takes catfish and talapia. skittish until settled in, then solid and mellow, likes to swim into moderate current. seems to prefer sand over gravel. i realize this stuff can be said of all serras. i'm just trying to furnish some details for the pros to mull over. i've been looking at photos of compressus and altuvie and i'm at my limit as far as fish skills go.


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## hastatus (Jan 16, 2003)

Compare your fish to these.

That's why I originally stated its better to know where the fish is from. If its from Venezuela, then its 100% certain it is S. altuvei. S. hastatus is far more different than S. altuvei or S. compressus, much so that its easier to tell apart. S. altuvei and S. compressus it mostly in the dorsum area (area just before dorsal fin) and the bars/spotting. S. compressus has more running to the belly region.


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## dutchfrompredator (Sep 26, 2004)

i've been pondering the opefe photos since last night. it's hard to tell because the fish therein seem taller than mine (obviously the adults specimens look slightly different than my ~6" fish who hasn't completely developed). the only reason i'm leaning toward altuvie over compressus is the markings on the opefe site for the altuvie seem more confined to the area above the lateral line like on my fish. i can't tell and my lfs sold it to me as a "black piranha"







so you know they don't know where the hell it's from. looks like george is my only hope here. he was selling some that were identical alittle while back and i've asked him what there were and where from in his forum. thanks guys, i know this isn't an exact science when you're looking at photos and what not.


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## hastatus (Jan 16, 2003)

> dutchfrompredator Posted Today, 08:25 AM
> i've been pondering the opefe photos since last night. it's hard to tell because the fish therein seem taller than mine (obviously the adults specimens look slightly different than my ~6" fish who hasn't completely developed). the only reason i'm leaning toward altuvie over compressus is the markings on the opefe site for the altuvie seem more confined to the area above the lateral line like on my fish. i can't tell and my* lfs sold it to me as a "black piranha" * so you know they don't know where the hell it's from. looks like george is my only hope here. he was selling some that were identical alittle while back and i've asked him what there were and where from in his forum. thanks guys, i know this isn't an exact science when you're looking at photos and what not.


That's interesting because oftentimes that reference is applied to S. altuvei by dealers in most that I have seen. That's not to say S. compressus doesn't get tagged that way, but S. altuvei is generally a darker fish.


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## mantis (May 16, 2003)

beautiful!


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## dutchfrompredator (Sep 26, 2004)

i'm going to call him altuvei for now based on his markings and the amazing resemblance between my fish and the fish in the photo from shark aquarium. george says he believes they're altuveis. i'm kinda pleased actually. it's a rarer piranha and now i can justify getting rhom because we don't have one after all. thanks for all your input and reading. i'm sorta chatty.


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## traumatic (Jan 29, 2003)

you can keep him in that 40gal forever! it's a sweet setup.


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## dutchfrompredator (Sep 26, 2004)

that's a definite upside as well. i love the 40 gal long lifestyle. you can fit them anywhere, and you can keep a serra like mine in there for eons, if not life. this is a tank i'm never getting rid of because it's so good for small to medium piranha, especially serras. i have a thirty gal regular tank that's a lot taller, but the foot print of this one really fits my fish's lifestyle. he doesn't give a rat's ass about depth. he's all about the large footprint baby.







anyone know how large and how fast altuvei/ compressus grow. i've been thinking in terms of rhom. i guess it still takes them hundreds of years to grow.


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## marky (Sep 4, 2004)

i have one that looks just like yours but people tell me its a rohm


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## dutchfrompredator (Sep 26, 2004)

DON'T SPAM MY THREAD MARKY! just kidding. i love when people say that. i'm am not even close to being any help on your fish. he looks the same as mine did. try and post a bigger clearer photo in a thread asking for an i.d. and see what pans out.


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