Crenicichla sp Tapojos?

[jelly]

I bought these two as sp. tapojos a few months ago. prior to last night they both looked like the paler of the two. The larger which I suspect female has developed colouring simalar to xingu 111. apologues for the quality. Pics taken on my phone.

I am not a crencichla expert could someone please confirm whether they think this is a tapojos or not.

Also I understand these are difficult to breed. Is there any suggested methods to increase the chances?

Thanks all.

 

[Hadrian]

look like X1's to me

 

[jelly]

From what I have seen female X1's look very different in colouring to this and when smaller they did not look like Orange pikes in colouration.

Thanks

 

[piKefaNatic]

They are both xingu. The front one is a xinguI male I think and the other one is female but might be a different sp.

 

[jelly]

I am pretty sure they are the same species as they were identical a couple of days ago. Also they were part of a single brood. By the juvanile colouration they had they are definatly not Xingu 1 orange pikes. I am also sure they are not X3's, cobra's or Tapajos Red's. I could of course be wrong. I am no expert.

Thanks

 

[its_an_obsession]

they appear to me to be xingu 1's. the coloring on the female seams a little different from alot of the pictures i've seen on xingu 1 females.

the coloring more resembles that of a xingu III in a way, but i think the shape of the head is the give away on this one. i don't know how to explain it aside from just looking at thousands of pictures and saying that its looks hook line and sinker like a xingu 1.

 

[jelly]

I would also add that these are only 8". Don't X1's still have juvanile colouration at that size?

 

[its_an_obsession]

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...S:official&tbs=isch:1&ei=PjD8S-L-EoKJOIng5ckB

http://reocities.com/NapaValley/5491/redtapajos.html

http://media.photobucket.com/image/crenicichla sp. xingu I/maddog10/xingu-1a.jpg

here's some pictures. first link is pictures from aca 08 convention. there are two tapajos pikes. 2nd link is another tapajos from vinny kutty's site. third picture is a female xingu.

i can't think of any other species it could be besides xingu I.

according to this link, they lose juvie coloration at 6-7"
http://reocities.com/NapaValley/5491/Xingu1page.html

 

[Scatocephalus]

Definitely X1's. I've noticed over the years that X1's can vary greatly in color, both a juveniles and adults. I've seen babies that are almost tan instead of the usual orange, to bright orange and about 15-20 years ago even babies that were nearly cherry red. I'm sure some of this has to do with diet and water condidtion but I'm a big believer that there are geographical races within the species. The rio Xingu is a HUGE body of water. I don't think it is at all unreasonable to see variations over such a wide spread area.

Regarding at what size they develop adult coloration. It's not about the size but rather the age. Depending on tank size, water conditions and diet, a fish may grow to vastly different sizes in a 12 month period.

Looking at the two pictures, the fish in the back and in the 2nd pic id 100% female. I'd need to see a better pic of the fore fish to determine sex.

 

[Peanut_Power]

Awesome xingu I. No other way around that one mate, tapajos and xingu III they are not.