Today in the Fishroom ~ Parachromis dovii “red morph”

[Modest_Man]

I have been out of the hobby for a couple years but to me it looks like these dovii aren't a red morph per se. It looks like they follow the peeling process similar to the midas/red devil complex where the colored parents can throw offspring with red, orange, yellow, white, and any combination in between.

Which would make sense since the photo of the wild caught fish that these dovii in the states come from were not all 100% red (though I think the main male was). And the photo floating around years ago of a juvenile in the wild was mostly white.

Here's a video that showcases the different colors between siblings -

As an aside, if anyone knows where I can get some of these guys please PM me.

 

[RD.]

Wow, that's crazy.

 

[RD.]

This explains why when I first saw Mo's pics of his pair, I thought that they looked like piebalds. Thanks for posting that vid, Jamie.

 

[Aquamojo]

Many years back I posted this photo of a wild caught red dovii. The late great Mike Sheridan shared the photo of this wild specimen preserved in a jar at the University of Costa Rica. I did a little color correction. Given the fact that it was photo'd dead, loss of some color, etc... it does fairly resemble a few of the fish in the video posted. I'd say what we are seeing are the red morph, but line breeding has added a "pot luck" component to the finished product.





The "peeling" that was noted does occur in a number of fish...including the Gold Morph Managuense I picked up a while back. I don't see it much in the Parachromis family of fish. More in the Amphilophus. It's more like they are finally getting the chromatophores under control as they age.







Interesting stuff. I'm assuming they will follow suit.

 

[RD.]

I'd say what we are seeing are the red morph, but line breeding has added a "pot luck" component to the finished product.

I'm not sure I'm buying that Mo, unless by line breeding you are referring to some form of hybrid crossing?

 

[Aquamojo]

I'm not sure I'm buying that Mo, unless by line breeding you are referring to some form of hybrid crossing?

Nope. Line breeding.

 

[RD.]

Ok, but not sure how line breeding a red morph would create a creamsicle morph.

 

[Aquamojo]

Ok, but not sure how line breeding a red morph would create a creamsicle morph.

Which brings into question what they started with. Are you basing your comment on the video posted? Is that where the reds are coming from?

 

[Aquamojo]

I’m confused by the video posted. If you look at his videos on ou tube, he has white, xanthic and regular. So are all fish shown above from the same parents? Or is it a tank full of grow outs with some of each?

 

[RD.]

Good question, Mo. I know next to nothing about the origin of this variant.