“Brown hoplos make me a genius,” said Paul Shafland, the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission biologist who heads the Non-Native Fish Research Lab in Boca Raton.

Callers don’t have to go too far describing the exotic catfish with huge rectangular scales before Shafland tells them that what they’ve caught is Hoplosternum littorale — a brown hoplo. And as often as not, callers award him the title of “genius.”

Over the past 29 years, however, Shafland has found his intellectual pursuits sometimes are compromised by lengthy calls from the curious. So now he’s created an identification sheet on exotic fish that may cut down on the calls, if also those accolades.

Such a brochure might easily have helped Jerry Triezenberg, who recently wrote The News-Press wondering what kind of fish he was catching in Cape Coral. It looked like a Mayan cichlid he had seen in the paper, he said, but it had the outline of a square on its flanks, rather than bars.

“I’ve never heard of such a fish,” Shafland said of Triezenberg’s description.

So, some mysteries do remain. But if you want to see the difference between, say, a restriped eartheater and a jaguar guapote, a quick phone call or Internet inquiry will get you “Some of Florida’s Freshwater Exotic Fishes” — a fish identification chart with color photos of 18 of the 22 exotic species now permanently ensconced in state waters.

One species on the chart, the triploid grass carp, is commonly introduced in state waters for vegetation control. But grass carp are not considered permanent fixtures because they’re sterile when released.

Four other established species — common carp, the Rio Grande cichlid, vermiculated catfish and a suckermouth catfish — aren’t shown on the brochure. The carp and cichlid have very limited territories, and the catfishes are so close to others that are pictured that anyone can, um, get the picture.

To obtain a copy of the exotic fish identification poster, write the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, South Region Office, Fisheries, 8535 Northlake Blvd., West Palm Beach FL 33412; or call (561) 625-5122.