Hoplosternum thoracatum

[ajthescot]

this is my first aquarium
i recantly purchaced 3 Hoplo Catfish - Hoplosternum thoracatum
and when i got home i jumped straight onto google to read up on them and so far i have only seen picture with them with whiskers or barbels.
only 1 of mine have whiskers is this a mixed species i have been sold or is this a common thing and im just not googling hard enough . i initualy thought it was 1 male and two female but after a bit of reading i found the way to tell them apart is by the dorsal fin.
for any info i would be most gratefull
and thank u for taking the time to read

[Crispy]

For more info on this catfish, google hoplo catfish.

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[ajthescot]

ok i have googled still not found none without barbels or read nothing about them not having them without them loosing them and growing back .
could they be a diffrent species .
here some pics of them there not the best but as similar as they look they do have some diffrences like the eyes and colour.

[Chrisinator]

Try searching them by Megalechis thoracata.

If your not seeing barbels, most likely they were damaged by the gravel. It also says in my book that Hoplo catfish build bubble-nests.