I couldn't think of anything else to use as an incredibly witty title. :Wink:
My name is Jeff, and I've just discovered this site while looking for pictures of adult male convicts (The fish, not bad people) with a vestigial lump to compare to my own. I was surprised that there aren't many out there! Most pics I found were of very brightly colored Males with at best an almost indistinguishable bump. LOL While my own males were at one time very "sleek" looking, once I separated the males from the females, the boys got dark, and big, and very masculine looking.
My biggest male convict is "Ham." He's around 2 years old now, and from the day we brought him home as a youngster he was always trying to get your attention - at times even looking like he was smiling at you. He also LOVED getting his picture taken, thus the name.
Here's Ham a week or two after we brought him home from the LFS. Not a fry anymore, but not too big either - around 1.5 - 2 inches long.
And here is how he got his name:
This pic was take YESTERDAY: (Same fish, about 1.5 years later!!)
He's a beast now! I've read quite a few articles online that said it isn't known why Convicts grow a vestigial hump, but it's very clear to me that it's all about competition. When i had a few different bonded pairs in the same tank, Ham had a little bump and the other males didn't have anything - all of them had brighter "light" stripes too. With the males being separated from the girls now to help control the population, all the males have been getting much more fearsome looking - with humps, dark coloration, and long tails on their fins much like angelfish have! They don't fight though, other than a quick chase here and a puffed out gills dance there - they never make contact or grab each other.
My name is Jeff, and I've just discovered this site while looking for pictures of adult male convicts (The fish, not bad people) with a vestigial lump to compare to my own. I was surprised that there aren't many out there! Most pics I found were of very brightly colored Males with at best an almost indistinguishable bump. LOL While my own males were at one time very "sleek" looking, once I separated the males from the females, the boys got dark, and big, and very masculine looking.
My biggest male convict is "Ham." He's around 2 years old now, and from the day we brought him home as a youngster he was always trying to get your attention - at times even looking like he was smiling at you. He also LOVED getting his picture taken, thus the name.
Here's Ham a week or two after we brought him home from the LFS. Not a fry anymore, but not too big either - around 1.5 - 2 inches long.
And here is how he got his name:
This pic was take YESTERDAY: (Same fish, about 1.5 years later!!)
He's a beast now! I've read quite a few articles online that said it isn't known why Convicts grow a vestigial hump, but it's very clear to me that it's all about competition. When i had a few different bonded pairs in the same tank, Ham had a little bump and the other males didn't have anything - all of them had brighter "light" stripes too. With the males being separated from the girls now to help control the population, all the males have been getting much more fearsome looking - with humps, dark coloration, and long tails on their fins much like angelfish have! They don't fight though, other than a quick chase here and a puffed out gills dance there - they never make contact or grab each other.
Welcome JeffRozak! 
