Flagtail ID

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jclyde13

jclyde13

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Jun 18, 2009
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Louisville, KY
This is my second attempt to get an ID on my flagtail. I posted a thread before in the "Other Characins" forum with no luck, so I'm hoping maybe someone in this forum can tell me whether it's S. insignis or taeniurus. Pics are in the thread linked below. From what I've read, taeniurus supposedly stop growing at 8", but my flagtail is at least 10" long, and I've also read that insignis lose their black coloration once they reach a certain age (what that age is, I have no idea), but mine still has plenty of black coloration, and I'm guessing it's probably at least 2 years old. So I'm stumped.

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?434881-New-Flagtail&highlight=
 
If no one out of the nearly hundred thousand people on MFK can identify between these two species, how is it even so widely known that there are, in fact, two separate species? :nilly:
 
I would disregard much of what you read on websites with supposed size limits

tons of misinformation out there. a classic example is the 'redtail' tinfoil barb. most sites out there claim that redtails get only 8" and that the 'twin bar' or normal tinfoil barbs reaches 12-14" when there are tons of 12-14" true redtails swimming around out there. I have personally grown several up over the years.

as far as flagtails go, back in the late 90's a store near me had a true 18" flagtail (for $400 canadian) that had full red/orange colour like yours.

so not all of them lose their colour when they reach maturity. I have never seen any large ones that lose the black barring on the tail..

yours appears to be the same species as mine (which ever that is lol), who is about 7" long now, purchased as a 1.5" baby two years ago in my 65g: (he's not 7" yet in these pics, I haven't done a recent pic in a few months)

your big one is AMAZING!

IMG_0438.JPG

IMG_0591.JPG
 
Funny you should raise the question about whether or not there are in fact two species. I have been trying to ID my own Flagtail lately and I have come to the conclusion that there is only one species. I have found so many descriptions of each type that when all combined to one list of descriptive qualities for each species, you get an identical list for the two. And whatever species it is, it's absolutely an awesome fish.
 
Well they definetly don't stop growing at 8". Mine appears to be the same as yours, with the exeption of the length of the finnage on mire. It's about 13" now, got it in May of 2010 at 5". Crappy cell phone pic but you get the idea.

SAM_1096.JPG

SAM_1096.JPG
 
12 Volt Man said:
I would disregard much of what you read on websites with supposed size limits

tons of misinformation out there. a classic example is the 'redtail' tinfoil barb. most sites out there claim that redtails get only 8" and that the 'twin bar' or normal tinfoil barbs reaches 12-14" when there are tons of 12-14" true redtails swimming around out there. I have personally grown several up over the years.

as far as flagtails go, back in the late 90's a store near me had a true 18" flagtail (for $400 canadian) that had full red/orange colour like yours.

so not all of them lose their colour when they reach maturity. I have never seen any large ones that lose the black barring on the tail..

yours appears to be the same species as mine (which ever that is lol), who is about 7" long now, purchased as a 1.5" baby two years ago in my 65g: (he's not 7" yet in these pics, I haven't done a recent pic in a few months)

your big one is AMAZING!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. As for the coloration, according to what I read, they're referring only to the black coloration on the scales, and I have noticed that many other flagtails that are around the size of mine have already lost most/all of that coloration...


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everlastace said:
Funny you should raise the question about whether or not there are in fact two species. I have been trying to ID my own Flagtail lately and I have come to the conclusion that there is only one species. I have found so many descriptions of each type that when all combined to one list of descriptive qualities for each species, you get an identical list for the two. And whatever species it is, it's absolutely an awesome fish.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I don't see any real differences in the pics of each species that I've found on the internet. The only thing so far that has held up is the variation between black coloration vs. lack thereof.


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