Albino African Lungfish with black eyes?
- Thread starter TheFishDealer
- Start date
The correct term for albinism that also exhibits black pigment is called “lutino”… Lutino fish would still have red eyes tho. I happen to own a lutino aethiopicus from Wes and it has red eyes and alot less black pigment than this guy. Im not 100% sure if a lutinos eyes could be normal colored.
I trust Wes and his sources if they claim this specimen is wild caught. The “downside” these days is that some color morphs are man made so any “correct term” or morph i.d. Pretty much goes out the window. They do some crazy things now with UV light to make morphs. Alot end up looking similiar to this guy tho. Blotches of color, eyes red or black and no one knows how long or if they stay this way.
plus side… id say 80-90% of this morph/species in particular does seem to be lutino and show black pigment to different degrees. Might be how there surviving long enough in the wild to be collected and or reproduce these genes more so than the “true albinos”…
I trust Wes and his sources if they claim this specimen is wild caught. The “downside” these days is that some color morphs are man made so any “correct term” or morph i.d. Pretty much goes out the window. They do some crazy things now with UV light to make morphs. Alot end up looking similiar to this guy tho. Blotches of color, eyes red or black and no one knows how long or if they stay this way.
plus side… id say 80-90% of this morph/species in particular does seem to be lutino and show black pigment to different degrees. Might be how there surviving long enough in the wild to be collected and or reproduce these genes more so than the “true albinos”…
Thank you for the detailed response, I was nervous about it being an altered fish, I work with Wes often enough to know he doesn't like altered fish either. It seems in the last few years altered fish have made a huge appearance, Xanthic datnoids, calico gar, and platinum everything. I wonder if this fish being in captivity will change at all, perhaps the depth change, water quality, diet etc will have an affect on appearance. I have found topics on fish like this with red eyes and I originally thought this would. Maybe a glitch in nature.
IME with this same morph/species in particular. It should stay just about exactly the same. Ive had mine from 5” to 38” now at 6.5 yrs. It has the same large black spot it did on its back at 5” lol… pretty crazy. The lighter areas of the “pattern” have come and gone a bit but it really is spot on from 5”-38” so far.
I'm probably going to regret learning this. but...could one of you guys go into a bit of detail here regarding "altered fish", specifically using UV to "make morphs".
I suspect this will simply lower my already-poor perception of humanity even further, but...curiosity compels...
Also...would the fish that is the subject of this thread fit the description of "leucistic"?
I suspect this will simply lower my already-poor perception of humanity even further, but...curiosity compels...
Also...would the fish that is the subject of this thread fit the description of "leucistic"?
I'm probably going to regret learning this. but...could one of you guys go into a bit of detail here regarding "altered fish", specifically using UV to "make morphs".
I suspect this will simply lower my already-poor perception of humanity even further, but...curiosity compels...
Also...would the fish that is the subject of this thread fit the description of "leucistic"?
Im sure someone is more qualified then me but I was introduced to it after inquiring about an xanthic datnoid, they had almost 60 of them in a tank. surely they wouldn't of found this many at that size at once, I was sent a video a few weeks later of these guys injecting them with needles and if you stop injecting the color goes back to normal. Im not aware of the substance name or the course of action. I just know alot of people spent a few thousand or more on a fish sold to them as true xanthic. Makes me nervous about golden goonch or pied gars. Im interested in more info if someone else has a grasp on the concept?
That is incredible, would it feed on pellets immediately or did it start on frozen meaty foods?
IMO the fish in question could “technically” be classified as leucy or pied… about all the real definitions for color morphs overlap a bit so its hard to decipher.I'm probably going to regret learning this. but...could one of you guys go into a bit of detail here regarding "altered fish", specifically using UV to "make morphs".
I suspect this will simply lower my already-poor perception of humanity even further, but...curiosity compels...
Also...would the fish that is the subject of this thread fit the description of "leucistic"?
As for the “man mades”…. A member here informed me about the process a few yrs ago after losing money on a few high dollar morphs and knowing people in the industry.
one way they make man made morphs is to blast young fish and eggs with high amounts of UV light and it makes their pigment and eyes do crazy things. Some fish survive, some dont. Basically they “have it down” for a number of fish speices. Prime example are the “new” marbled alligator gar. After these UV light treatments, some look like albinos, some look piebald and some are in between with as far as one red eye, one regular eye and pigments all over the place as well black to white. The “phantom” red tailed cats are one of the same. Its a popular process for datnoids also. Some fish seem to “keep” the treatment and others go back to normal coloring in time.
i give the hatcheries and people involved credit for exploiting a trend in the hobby with scientific practices, but i dont like people getting ripped off.
Ive always been a big fan of natural color morphs and its almost impossible to know what is “real” now. Shame really….
Ive head about using “chemicals” also… didnt know it was injections. The rabbit hole just gets deeper lol… seems theres multiple ways being tried/used to make morphs now.
