Is this ATF a Goliath or Vitatus?
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That is a Hydrocynus tanzaniae. It appears as though quite a few of these have come in recently. The placement of the eye, the stripes and the shape of the jaw are diagnostic. If you get him in bright light, his adipose fin will be a vivid steel blue, also. Compare your fish to the TATF in my signature. I diagnosed my fish via lateral line scale count and anal fin ray count.
MP, based on the references I will include later in this post, your fish is H. forskahlii, not goliath.
Vittatus, tanzaniae and forskahlii are the strongly striped species. Goliath and brevis have very faint, subdued stripes.
Picture credit Goodier et. al., (2011)
Goliath has the largest jaw with a red tail and subdued striping. We all agree it looks just like the big ones.
Vittatus has strong striping, a red or yellow tail with color on both lobes and a moderate sized jaw. There is a LOT of potential variation in vatf because there are five distinct genetic populations of this fish awaiting descriptions as sub species.
Tanzaniae has strong striping that is somewhat broken and a jaw almost as large as a gatf but is shaped like a vittatus or forskahlii. It has a bluish or greenish tail with a steel blue adipose fin.
Forskahlii has strong striping that looks a lot like vatf with a red or yellow tail with color only on the bottom lobe. It has the smallest jaw to body ratio of the five species and a very thin, elongate body.
Brevis is similar in structure to goliath. They have a very short, thick body with a strong jaw. They have subdued striping. I have not seen anything in aquaria that I feel matches the description of this fish species in scientific literature. Normally what people call brevis is a forskahlii.
I realize that there are quite a few people who don't like my take on what various tiger fish are, but I'm taking my information directly from the scientific journals that describe these fish, not the word of someone who says they know what they're talking about. That's why I post my sources. If anyone wants to refute what I say, please cite your sources so I may educate myself.
References:
Brewster, B. (1986). A review of the genus Hydrocynus Cuvier 1819 (Teleostei: Characiformes). Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Zoology 50(3): 163-206 (1986)
Goodier, S., Cotterill, F., O'Ryan, C., Skelton, P., de Wit, M. (2011). Cryptic Diversity of African Tigerfish (Genus Hydrocynus) Reveals Palaeogeographic Signatures of Linked Neogene Geotectonic Events. Public Library of Science, 6 (12). doi 10.1371
MP, based on the references I will include later in this post, your fish is H. forskahlii, not goliath.
Vittatus, tanzaniae and forskahlii are the strongly striped species. Goliath and brevis have very faint, subdued stripes.
Picture credit Goodier et. al., (2011)
Goliath has the largest jaw with a red tail and subdued striping. We all agree it looks just like the big ones.
Vittatus has strong striping, a red or yellow tail with color on both lobes and a moderate sized jaw. There is a LOT of potential variation in vatf because there are five distinct genetic populations of this fish awaiting descriptions as sub species.
Tanzaniae has strong striping that is somewhat broken and a jaw almost as large as a gatf but is shaped like a vittatus or forskahlii. It has a bluish or greenish tail with a steel blue adipose fin.
Forskahlii has strong striping that looks a lot like vatf with a red or yellow tail with color only on the bottom lobe. It has the smallest jaw to body ratio of the five species and a very thin, elongate body.
Brevis is similar in structure to goliath. They have a very short, thick body with a strong jaw. They have subdued striping. I have not seen anything in aquaria that I feel matches the description of this fish species in scientific literature. Normally what people call brevis is a forskahlii.
I realize that there are quite a few people who don't like my take on what various tiger fish are, but I'm taking my information directly from the scientific journals that describe these fish, not the word of someone who says they know what they're talking about. That's why I post my sources. If anyone wants to refute what I say, please cite your sources so I may educate myself.
References:
Brewster, B. (1986). A review of the genus Hydrocynus Cuvier 1819 (Teleostei: Characiformes). Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Zoology 50(3): 163-206 (1986)
Goodier, S., Cotterill, F., O'Ryan, C., Skelton, P., de Wit, M. (2011). Cryptic Diversity of African Tigerfish (Genus Hydrocynus) Reveals Palaeogeographic Signatures of Linked Neogene Geotectonic Events. Public Library of Science, 6 (12). doi 10.1371
That is a Hydrocynus tanzaniae. It appears as though quite a few of these have come in recently. The placement of the eye, the stripes and the shape of the jaw are diagnostic. If you get him in bright light, his adipose fin will be a vivid steel blue, also. Compare your fish to the TATF in my signature. I diagnosed my fish via lateral line scale count and anal fin ray count.
MP, based on the references I will include later in this post, your fish is H. forskahlii, not goliath.
Vittatus, tanzaniae and forskahlii are the strongly striped species. Goliath and brevis have very faint, subdued stripes.
View attachment 844009
Picture credit Goodier et. al., (2011)
Goliath has the largest jaw with a red tail and subdued striping. We all agree it looks just like the big ones.
Vittatus has strong striping, a red or yellow tail with color on both lobes and a moderate sized jaw. There is a LOT of potential variation in vatf because there are five distinct genetic populations of this fish awaiting descriptions as sub species.
Tanzaniae has strong striping that is somewhat broken and a jaw almost as large as a gatf but is shaped like a vittatus or forskahlii. It has a bluish or greenish tail with a steel blue adipose fin.
Forskahlii has strong striping that looks a lot like vatf with a red or yellow tail with color only on the bottom lobe. It has the smallest jaw to body ratio of the five species and a very thin, elongate body.
Brevis is similar in structure to goliath. They have a very short, thick body with a strong jaw. They have subdued striping. I have not seen anything in aquaria that I feel matches the description of this fish species in scientific literature. Normally what people call brevis is a forskahlii.
I realize that there are quite a few people who don't like my take on what various tiger fish are, but I'm taking my information directly from the scientific journals that describe these fish, not the word of someone who says they know what they're talking about. That's why I post my sources. If anyone wants to refute what I say, please cite your sources so I may educate myself.
References:
Brewster, B. (1986). A review of the genus Hydrocynus Cuvier 1819 (Teleostei: Characiformes). Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Zoology 50(3): 163-206 (1986)
Goodier, S., Cotterill, F., O'Ryan, C., Skelton, P., de Wit, M. (2011). Cryptic Diversity of African Tigerfish (Genus Hydrocynus) Reveals Palaeogeographic Signatures of Linked Neogene Geotectonic Events. Public Library of Science, 6 (12). doi 10.1371
Great information
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Hydrocynus Vittatus
How to distinguish ?
1. horizontal lines across the body
2. Snout is rounded
3. Tail is colored; top n bottom
How to distinguish ?
1. horizontal lines across the body
2. Snout is rounded
3. Tail is colored; top n bottom
I covered this in very great detail in the description in my signature.
Thanks
Great read!
I know that cost is a subjective thing, but given that it is not a Goliath, do you think it is worth $200 + tax?
I know that cost is a subjective thing, but given that it is not a Goliath, do you think it is worth $200 + tax?
After shipping and everything, I spent almost that much on mine. I feel it was worth it.
Consider this: gatf are a dime a dozen. Not many people have H. tanzaniae though. You have a rare and special fish that in aquaria will get just as big and mean looking as a goliath will.
