Today In The Fishroom~2/13/11 Partheraps Sp. "coatzacoalcos"

I just finished taking a lot of photos of this one particular species of fish. It is Paratheraps Sp. "coatzacoalcos". The fish is from the Rio Carolina in Mexico.




I haven't processed all of them. I will post more when I do.

The main difference with the photo above and the ones that I will be posting later is that it is lit from top and bottom. I moved all of the gravel away from the front third of the tank. This after a MAJOR fish move. I have a dozen of these fish. I had them in two 100 gallon tanks. I now have them split them off into three tanks...reducing their numbers into four per tanks...trying to get a pair.

By far on e of the nicest Paratheraps I have owned.

As promised here is a sampling of the nearly hundred photos that I took of the tanks. I've received a few e-mails and PM's asking if these were, in fact, the same fish being sold as Zonatus "Rio Carolina". I think the answer to that question is yes. When RUsty Wessel gave me these fish he described them as looking very close to zonatus. So I can see how the name would stick. It's a whole lot easier than writing "coatzacoalcos".

The main difference I see between these and the zonatus is the intense red spangling, in addition to the red band across the snout.



A lot of these shots look similar...but I look for small differences in the "pose" of the fish.



Note how a slight change in position makes the fins more luminous.




My method of photography is to light one particular area in the tank them wither wait or draw the subjects into the light. As stated above, I moved a third of the gravel away from the front of the tank in order to facilitate a light underneath. I think it makes a real difference in the lighting of the fish...and if I didn't point it out, it might not be apparent.



I don't shoot full tank shots. Partially becasue I think it's boring..and partially becasue it's more difficult to light evenly. Here's four of the fish that are in one tank. The lights are set for the far right. Note the fish on the far left.



Normally I would crop down to the lighted fish. In the case below the fish was so perfectly centered in the sweet spot of the light that I left the "extra" all around the fish. It looks like a spotlight hit the fish.



Same fish, same light, same spot...side shot. You can see how these might be mistaken as zonatus. Having had both I can tell you that these fish at 3-4" are more blue and overall more colorful than the zonatus at the same size. I've seen some awesome shots of an adult pair. They are going to be stunners.



With the group I believe I can sort male from female with male being more heavily spangled...especially across the snout...and females less and slightly less blue. Here's a female.







A male....see?



I always strive to get different poses...not really liking the side fish shot. I took a bunch of these standing back around fifteen feet from the tank and shooting with a 70-300mm zoom. Focusing wasn't the challenge. Timing the very moment when the fish turns to catch something like this...



I was paid high praise by a very good friend of mine...who has been around CA/SA cichlids for many years. He said that one nice thing about giving fish to me is that he is certain that their growth will be documented for posterity. I enjoy photographing and posting these as much as I do keeping the fish...maybe more. Over the years I have had hundred of emails telling me how one person or another acquired the fish after seeing my photos...especially the managuense shots. For me personally, it doesn't get better than that.

Peace..........Mo

6 bar;4886069; said:

Thank you so much for sharing some of your secrets on fish photography. I've truly admired your work with fish photos and the myriads of contributions you have and continue to make for the hobby. These photos help to discern between zonatus and coatzacoalcos. Just an idea, if you get a chance could you put some pictures perhaps in an another thread of some of your 3-4" zonatus, so that they can be juxtaposed?

In terms of these rio caroline cichlids, do you see any differences in behavior ( ie aggression)? I understand that zonatus are quite agro, how about these?

Click to expand...

the main difference I see is their appearance and not the aggression. Rusty told me all of that will change when they pick a partner. Likely they will kill or attempt to kill their tank mates. That's the primary reason I separated the group.

Here's zonatus at the same size. I want to point out that the photos below were lit entirely different than the ones above. At that time I was using only the camera flash. If I had the same fish with the same lighting they would look much different. Note the absence of the prominent red band across the snout...and the lack of red spangling.