Boost, no offense taken.
It's all good. The fish that I specifically said that I did not think was a kelberi was the one pictured in jamesliu2000's post on page #43. Post #429. There is not a hint of spots on the pelvic, anal or caudal fins, especially for the advanced development of the body pattern. With that said, it is a fantastic looking fish. I LOVE the body pattern!
I'll be the first to admit that just because a fish is not colored up at 5" or even 10" that does not mean it is a differet species. Certainly same species from different parts of the Amazon color up at different rates for that particular race. And, as mentioned, even fish collected from the same area will color up at different rates depending on a variety of environmental factors. In all honesty, I tend to base my asessment on my experience with my fish. As Boost keeps pointing out, my fish simply are a poor indicator of what other fish may be. They are very unusual.
And I've seen a couple of posts implying that those who think the fish in question are not kelberi are haters. Nothing could be further from the truth. I'm not hating on the fish hoping that others got screwed just so I can say I'm the only one with true kelberi. It is more me thinking out loud as it may be just trying to figure out what they are. I've been in the hobby for over 30 years and I have seen many fish over the years that come into the country sold as one thing and end up being another. I am simply a little hesitant to definitively state what a fish is until it is proven. Perhaps I'm a but too conservative in this regard. I still remember when
festae were all the rage but nobody could figure out why none of them looked as good as the pics coming out of Germany. It wasn't until someone figured out that all the "festae " in the U.S. were really uropthalmus and millions had been incorrectly sold.
With that said, everyone please keep posting progression pics of your fish. It is in this very manner that we'll learn what is out there and what changes are made in the fish's appearance as they mature so we know what to look for in future shipments.
Lastly, and I've mentioned this before, I suspect that there are more species out there that need to be described. It would not surprise me at all to see more that are discovered that exhibit spots in their fins. Seiichi has already mentioned that he has seen Peruvian monos that exhibit spotting much like kelberi. Does this make them less desirable than kelberi simply because they are monos? Not at all. I've seen some butt ugly kelberi and some drop-dead gorgeous monos. Slapping a particular species name on a fish in no way makes it automatically spectacular.
To be cont...
sorry, possibly has something to do with obesity? and if you want to see a beautiful mono just take a look at r1_rydas peru monos!
No Cichla is ugly imo..... Maybe fat but still beautiful. I'll take it.
