Differentiating Black Rays!

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Cheesetian

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Oct 14, 2010
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Hi guys! I've recently been thinking of getting some Rays to try my hand at breeding. First aim is to get the mid-level Rays such as MM and Pearls. But i've also decided that in the future i will definitely want to try my hand at breeding pure Black Rays as well as create Designer Rays. I've gone through threads in this section including the Black Ray identification and i'm still kinda' confused on how exactly i can tell the different ones apart. I've read up things such as the 3-2-1 spots behind the eyes but all that has left me more confused. So i've resorted to this thread in order to clarify all my doubts once and for all. Would love it if the experts could chip in and help me out. All advice/help/identification is greatly appreciated!

1. Leopoldis (see some with large distinct but few spots while others have different sized spots all over)
2. PDR (which species is considered PDR? Is there more than one type?)
3. BDs (is this the 3-2-1?)
4. P12, P13 & P14 (most confused about this, how to tell them apart?)
5. Henleis (pawprints?)

Other stuff such as skirting around the edges on which species or which have Paddletails and which do not will also help me further understand them! Pictures would be best! Thank you so much in advance and i hope at the end of the day i'll be so much better at recognizing all of em'. Thank you!
 
P12 =henlei
P13= Leo
P14= galaxy

Their many different fancy names for all of the
But these are them
 
Thank you! What about BDs and PDRs? Are they one and the same? Is there such a thing as BDxPDR?
 
P12 have long tails ,Leo's have short paddle tails, p14 have long tails. P14,p12 both start out brown.p13 starts out grey and turns black quickly.

Leo and p14 come from xingu river

Henlei come from Tocantins river

Henlei usually stay brown until 4 years old then most go black
But if your lucky you'll get a beautiful grey one.
 
Grey henlei with a nice pattern are in my opinion the nicest of all black rays ,they often have fat bright white spots that are bigger than loonies perfectly round and many rows of spotting like a black diamond will. P12 often sport. Incredible belly and tail markings too. Theres not to many real high quality henlei out there
 
What exactly are BDs and PDRs? Are they a way of classifying how a P13 looks? Are there different variants of Leopoldis and hence the other names? Which are the ones with donuts? If i'm not mistaken Henleis are the ones with sort of flowery patterns right? Like a single large white spot with a few other smaller spots surrounding it.
 
What exactly are BDs and PDRs? Are they a way of classifying how a P13 looks? Are there different variants of Leopoldis and hence the other names? Which are the ones with donuts? If i'm not mistaken Henleis are the ones with sort of flowery patterns right? Like a single large white spot with a few other smaller spots surrounding it.

Donuts=eclipse Leos.
Flowery pattern Hens=King Hens.
Both are beautiful...and expensive.
 
Donuts=eclipse Leos.
Flowery pattern Hens=King Hens.
Both are beautiful...and expensive.

Cool. How do i know when to classify a Ray as a BD or PDR? As in how do i tell the 2 apart? Spotting? Skirting? Tail length?
 
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