i bought what was sold to me as a siamese algae eater. I dont know if he is a flying fox, siamese algae eater, or false siamese algae eater. He has traits of them all. He has large visable whiskers, sucking mouth, and black streaks in his fins.

opps should have posted this thread in fish. I was reading over some parts of this section.

I don't know, sometimes my SAE seems other worldy! See my page at http://www.fishpondinfo.com/sae.htm for information on how to tell them apart and links to other sites with photo comparisons. First, look at the black stripe going down the body. It goes all the way to the end of the tail fin in the real SAE and flying foxes but only to the start of the tail in the false SAE. If it's between the SAE and flying fox, it becomes a comparison of overall look and colors. If you post a photo here, I can make a guess at it.

the black line ends at the beginning of the tail. I think it may be a cross breed between the fsae and the sae. I dont want to take a pic of him because he is very shy and moves around when i am looking at my tank. I also dont know how to post a photo. Maybe i will try at night when he is in the front of the tank.

I don't think crosses are common. I'm not sure if they're even possible. Without seeing the fish, it sounds like a false SAE. I bought my false SAE labeled as a SAE.

it looks like a fsae but it has whiskers like the sae. I went back to the pet store and noticed the same thing with the others. I guess it is possible for them to interbreed.