Sax pics

[altum777]

Sax but not sure which kind. LFS didn't know. Here are some pics of the fish from about 2.5 inches to current size of about 5 inches.

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p239/altum_2007/SaxNEW102708b.jpg
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p239/altum_2007/SaxNEW102708a.jpg

Current pics:

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p239/altum_2007/Sax1408.jpg
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p239/altum_2007/Sax1408c.jpg

[wonword]

I bought the same species and would love more info also! Do you have a pair?

[its_an_obsession]

nice sax pikes

[straitjacketstar]

It's very likely that you will never get a 100% ID on your sax pikes, especially without info on collection location.
The good part is that they're awesome looking pikes. I haven't had a whole great variety of pikes but of the several I have kept, these impossible-to-ID sax group pikes are my fave so far.
I purchased mine as C. sp. "Pernambuco" from a SoCal shop and when I checked around for an ID confirmation it was evident that they were not in fact C. sp. "Pernambuco".
Closest I could get to ID on mine was C. sp. "Pacaya" according to locals who had come across the same fish.
Here are some pics:
about a week after purchase and good food
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y277/straitjacketstar/South%20America/Crenicichla%20sp%20Pernambuco/8-26-06102-Crenicichla.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y277/straitjacketstar/South%20America/Crenicichla%20sp%20Pernambuco/8-26-06197-Crenicichlasp.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y277/straitjacketstar/South%20America/Crenicichla%20sp%20Pernambuco/8-26-06204-Crenicichlasp.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y277/straitjacketstar/South%20America/Crenicichla%20sp%20Pernambuco/8-26-06209-Crenicichlasp.jpg

I started out with 4 which I later figured out to be 3 males and one female. The female was the smallest and most docile and was killed when the males started to really put on some size.
I noticed variation as far as color went among these pikes. One of them actually lost spangling as it got older and I'm sure it had to do with age and not dominance as it was the largest and most dominant pike of the 3.
Despite the elongated look of the photo, since the fish was coming in at an angle, he looked exactly like his spangled siblings.
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y277/straitjacketstar/South%20America/Crenicichla%20sp%20Pernambuco/6-16-07083-Crenicichlasp.jpg

I eventually traded in two of these pikes to an LFS and kept my fave. I loved his fat ass. He wasn't much for pix, which is a shame cause I would have loved to get some better shots of him, but as long as the camera wasn't around he was the most personable fish I'd ever had. Would eat right out of my hand!
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y277/straitjacketstar/South%20America/Crenicichla%20sp%20Pernambuco/6-16-07093-Crenicichlasp.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y277/straitjacketstar/South%20America/Crenicichla%20sp%20Pernambuco/2-20-08053-Pacaya.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y277/straitjacketstar/South%20America/Crenicichla%20sp%20Pernambuco/2-21-08016-Pacaya.jpg

Big guy got to 10" in his first year and he passed in October like the day before I got back from vacation. I have no idea what killed him but I was pissed.
There's a shop nearby that just got some little ones in and it's torture trying to keep myself from buying the whole lot of them since I have no where to put them.

Good luck with yours. Hopefully the ID issue won't bother you. They're great pikes and I hope to see you post more of yours as they get older. :D

Jen

[piKefaNatic]

nice pikes

[its_an_obsession]

those photos by straitjacketstar appear so be the same species. they kinda have me thinking it could be a cr. menezesi because of the the last photo. checked on mostly cichlids and the double row of spangles made me think that. the website also said the makles add more spangles as they grow and the specimens they collected were from pernambuco.
http://www.geocities.com/NapaValley/5491/menezesipage.html

[altum777]

Very helpful. Thank you for the pics and the info. Two stores in my area have a lot of these pikes right now but I only bought two. Put them in a 125 with a tiny 5 spot jewel cichlid and then had to rescue them after the jewel started to rip them apart.