Like I already POSTED
The largest Umbee EVER caught was 24''
The Largest Dovii EVER caught was 26''
http://www.fishing-worldrecords.com/...s dovii/show
http://www.fishing-worldrecords.com/...umbrifera/show
Cichlid average size
- Thread starter Brazzen1
- Start date
Like I already POSTED
The largest Umbee EVER caught was 24''
The Largest Dovii EVER caught was 26''
http://www.fishing-worldrecords.com/...s dovii/show
http://www.fishing-worldrecords.com/...umbrifera/show
Holy crap that is the biggest cichla I have ever seen. Now that one might be the biggest cichlid. It seems emperors only get to be around 36''.
There are a variety of factors that determine the size that a fish will achieve (in captivity or in the wild).
Genetics are a big part of it: I'd assume that fish sizes are relatively normally distributed about a mean. In other words, most will reach a size of X...and very few will max out either much smaller or larger (following the normal distribution curve).
Lifespan, care and other factors are also involved, as others have posted. Most big guapotes get caught and eaten in nature...and most in captivity die before they're reached their full potential (either because of issues related to excess nutrition or because of poor care).
That a world-record specimen dovii grew to 26" doesn't mean that most will every grow anywhere near that large, even under ideal conditions.
There are some lunker dovii swimming around in the who-knows-how-many-thousand gallon tank at the National Zoo in DC. Not sure any of them are actually 2', though!
Matt
Genetics are a big part of it: I'd assume that fish sizes are relatively normally distributed about a mean. In other words, most will reach a size of X...and very few will max out either much smaller or larger (following the normal distribution curve).
Lifespan, care and other factors are also involved, as others have posted. Most big guapotes get caught and eaten in nature...and most in captivity die before they're reached their full potential (either because of issues related to excess nutrition or because of poor care).
That a world-record specimen dovii grew to 26" doesn't mean that most will every grow anywhere near that large, even under ideal conditions.
There are some lunker dovii swimming around in the who-knows-how-many-thousand gallon tank at the National Zoo in DC. Not sure any of them are actually 2', though!
Matt
Agreed Dogofwar, that is why, when I see people saying they have seen 30'' dovii or umbee, I know they are wrong. These are the 2 LARGEST species of wild Dovii "26" http://www.fishing-worldrecords.com/scientificname/Parachromis dovii/show
and Umbee "24" http://www.fishing-worldrecords.com/scientificname/Caquetaia umbrifera/show ,EVER recoded, meaning, they are the EXCEPTION, not the rule.
and Umbee "24" http://www.fishing-worldrecords.com/scientificname/Caquetaia umbrifera/show ,EVER recoded, meaning, they are the EXCEPTION, not the rule.
I agree Matt, obviously there is a difference between 'average' and 'maximum', the question is how big is that difference, and is there a difference between average wild size and average aquarium size. In [most!] aquaria the stresses of the wild environment (being eaten, finding food) are removed or minimised so there is potential for the fish to grow well. But at the same time little/none of the Natural Selection factors are applied to aquarium fish, most breeders try sell every last fry except for any obvious deformities, where as in nature only the biggest/fastest growing are likely to make it to adulthood to reproduce again. The effects of a limited gene-pool and unscrupulous breeding in captivity are obvious here in NZ with easy to breed species like convicts, which are often poorly marked, pale coloured and don't seem to grow to their full potential as nobody has put any effort into selecting breeding stock to breed quality cons. With a fish like dovii that will breed at half its potential maximum size, if you're distributing fry from a 12" pair then who knows what genetics you're passing on in terms of potential size.
If Dovii's have been found at least 32", umbi's at 32", and temensis at 43", it doesn't tell us the maximum, median or mean for those populations. We can only guess at even the maximum size since of course it's unlikely the largest ones have been found and because we already know that most never reach full maturity due to disease, predation, ecological events, etc. We can also only guess at whether fish in the wild have ideal conditions for maximum growth.
I could go out tomorrow and catch a record breaking instance of any fish. But maybe I dont register it. Doesnt mean it doesnt exist. Just saying...
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True local fisherman normally don't care about record fish, so who knows how many giants have gone unreported
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It's good to know that I wasn't alone in being skeptical about all the people claiming to have/had or have a "friend" that has a 30"+ Dovii or Umbee, RTC=yes, guapote=no. Now when I grow mine up I wont be disappointed that it's not over 3 feet.
BTW what is the average (non-stunted) size of RTCs and TSN in the aquarium, I know that in the wild they can and often do reach 5'.
BTW what is the average (non-stunted) size of RTCs and TSN in the aquarium, I know that in the wild they can and often do reach 5'.It seems like most rtcs get to be about 3-4 in captivity
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