I think it's more than just the color. The edging of the tail and shape of the nose is different that I can see. Most other GATF have a more squared nose compared to ours. Ours has more of a taper and is less square at the tip.
A confirmed, legit tank raised black Goliath? Check this out!
- Thread starter Chicxulub
- Start date
You're right. I'd love to see some more pics of your fish. Do you have any friends with a DSLR camera?
No lol, I'm just wanting to see large, high res images that will let me count fin rays and lateral line scales. I'm sure that our two aren't the only ones like them out there and I'd like to do a survey of the available data.
What about the pics I posted on the Goliath thread in the media section? I thought that was pretty close up.
They're great pics! 
The only issue with them is the resolution. I can't zoom in close enough to count the lateral line scales, teeth, or fin rays. Short of actually pulling them out of the tank and investigating them, this is the best way to look at them. Here's an older pic of Max that shows the size of the pictures I need and how I use them:
This is a huge image, open it in a new window to view it.
When you enlarge it, you can see how hard the LL scales are to count. Even though Max's scales are very dark bordering on black, they are still extremely shiny. GATF also have smaller, smoother scales than the course scales on the striped fish. Those scales are very hard to count even on a picture this large.
The fin rays aren't quite as hard to count, but there would be 4-5 near the back of the fin that I can't see in your picture.
Max has 53 LL scales, 3+12 anal fin rays and 10+8 teeth. Here's the diagnostic key for GATF:
Based on this one fish alone, I am fairly confident to say that a black GATF is either a color morph or a subspecies. The number of teeth is off, but I am confident that if I was to pull him out of the tank and investigate his jaw, we'd see a sixth tooth in the upper jaw. Then again though, one specimen that hasn't been dissected is NOT enough to describe a new species or subspecies. I'm not willing to dissect Max until he dies a natural death. So, the only option left to me is to attempt to gather data on more fish via alternate methods.
I'm hoping you see where I'm coming from with asking for high res pics. I'm not trying to insult you, I'm just attempting to gather data.
All my best.
The only issue with them is the resolution. I can't zoom in close enough to count the lateral line scales, teeth, or fin rays. Short of actually pulling them out of the tank and investigating them, this is the best way to look at them. Here's an older pic of Max that shows the size of the pictures I need and how I use them:
This is a huge image, open it in a new window to view it.
When you enlarge it, you can see how hard the LL scales are to count. Even though Max's scales are very dark bordering on black, they are still extremely shiny. GATF also have smaller, smoother scales than the course scales on the striped fish. Those scales are very hard to count even on a picture this large.
The fin rays aren't quite as hard to count, but there would be 4-5 near the back of the fin that I can't see in your picture.
Max has 53 LL scales, 3+12 anal fin rays and 10+8 teeth. Here's the diagnostic key for GATF:
Based on this one fish alone, I am fairly confident to say that a black GATF is either a color morph or a subspecies. The number of teeth is off, but I am confident that if I was to pull him out of the tank and investigate his jaw, we'd see a sixth tooth in the upper jaw. Then again though, one specimen that hasn't been dissected is NOT enough to describe a new species or subspecies. I'm not willing to dissect Max until he dies a natural death. So, the only option left to me is to attempt to gather data on more fish via alternate methods.
I'm hoping you see where I'm coming from with asking for high res pics. I'm not trying to insult you, I'm just attempting to gather data.
All my best.
