Florida Peacock Bass Fishing Part II - LOAD WARNING

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
PeacockBass;485348; said:
Those are indeed Monoculus.

Tell me, what makes those Ocellaris?

WHere is the Ocelli?
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Neal,

No need to get so aggressive. Matt is simply stating that FL F&G claims that the fish in FL are Ocellaris and call them Butterfly Peacock bass which I believe usually refers to Orinocensis in South America which all adds more confusion.

Matt is pretty new to the whole Pbass identification things so there is no need to be so hard on him. If you remember right I had the same problem too differentiating between Monoculus and Ocellaris.

Since I am not a Ichtyologist I can tell the difference of fish from the inside out, I can only identify them by their outer physical differences. I know you know the difference but I'll post some pics of my fish that show differences between the 2 similar looking Cichla. Sorry for the murky water pics. these are old ones taken last year I believe.


MONOCULUS (TOP) OCELLARIS (BOTTOM)
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MONOCULUS

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OCELLARIS
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I am not 100% correct on identifying them both BUT I can tell what Cichlas Look more like a Monoculus and What looks more like an Ocellaris.

Take a look at the pic below. These are adult of both species and you can see that hey do look different from each other. When juveniles, Both scpecies look excatly the same but when they start to mature the differences start to show.

As juvies bothe the Monoculus and the Ocellaris have the 3 Bars or sometimes the look like spots. With the exception of some FL Cichla I have seen with only 2 spots/bars. As the Fish Mature the Mono retains the bars (1, 2, 3) and are usually always visible all the time. In my expericience Ocellaris Bars (A, B) Fade from the mid point of the body to the bottom. and the 3rd Bar (C) becomes a SPOT.

Also you will notice that the Ocellaris loses the Horizontal body marking and the Monoculus ratains it.

both.jpg
 
The TRUST;485532; said:
Neal,

No need to get so aggressive. Matt is simply stating that FL F&G claims that the fish in FL are Ocellaris and call them Butterfly Peacock bass which I believe usually refers to Orinocensis in South America which all adds more confusion.

Matt is pretty new to the whole Pbass identification things so there is no need to be so hard on him. If you remember right I had the same problem too differentiating between Monoculus and Ocellaris.

Since I am not a Ichtyologist I can tell the difference of fish from the inside out, I can only identify them by their outer physical differences. I know you know the difference but I'll post some pics of my fish that show differences between the 2 similar looking Cichla. Sorry for the murky water pics. these are old ones taken last year I believe.


MONOCULUS (TOP) OCELLARIS (BOTTOM)
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MONOCULUS

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OCELLARIS
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THere is a HUGE misconception about the Flordia CIchla. THe "butterfly" Ocellaris which the F&W claim they planted.. They introduced 3 species. Not just the 2 they claim now. All three of the major cichla, back in the day of the transplant, were added. Ocellaris, Monoculus, and temensis.

It seems there has been some crossbreeding. But you can still clearly pick out which fish show more of which trait. Ocellaris, NEED the Ocelli on the top of the third bar to be considered a Ocellaris dominant cross. The rest you can clearly classify as Monoculus dominant.

Even red eyes mean nothing at this point considering Many of us keepers have had Wild caught Monoculus show the "blood eye". It is a common sight when the cichla is enraged with fright or anger.
 
Alright guys that enough bashing each other.

Neal, Matt is in his 50s. Even I am younger than his youngest child I believe. and Yes you do get quite offensive and attack people with different opinions than you. I am just used to it as I've seen your posts for years now.

I said Matt is new to IDENTIFYING Pbass I didn't say he was new to Pbass in general. he has been fishing them for years but never really looked into identifying the fish as they were not much interest to him as Angelfish were. So please give Matt a break.
 
The TRUST;485597; said:
Alright guys that enough bashing each other.

Neal, Matt is in his 50s. Even I am younger than his youngest child I believe. and Yes you do get quite offensive and attack people with different opinions than you. I am just used to it as I've seen your posts for years now.

I said Matt is new to IDENTIFYING Pbass I didn't say he was new to Pbass in general. he has been fishing them for years but never really looked into identifying the fish as they were not much interest to him as Angelfish were. So please give Matt a break.
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hmm... I suppose you are right. I have been rather rash with my new freind JT. Been having a rough week and that generally means my attitude when I get home isnt as good as it should be.

I would like to apologize for the attitude. It shouldnt hit these boards. But to often does, as we can see from these last few posts/threads.

To be honest, I enjoy your Posts JT. Especially the picture ones. THey have inspired me to start up a hawaii Cichla picture thread, when I eventually get my ass out there and catch these Hawaiian "Butterflys".

I hope we both can laugh at this and move on. Good luck out there fishing!

:headbang2
 
JuanTamad;421479; said:
Dodged two lightning strikes to land this one.

For a few moments I felt like I may have looked like Redtailfool's Avatar! LOL
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Haha Matt, dont get fried now.. just the pbass bangus style !
 
PeacockBass;485554; said:
It seems there has been some crossbreeding. But you can still clearly pick out which fish show more of which trait. Ocellaris, NEED the Ocelli on the top of the third bar to be considered a Ocellaris dominant cross. The rest you can clearly classify as Monoculus dominant.

Even red eyes mean nothing at this point considering Many of us keepers have had Wild caught Monoculus show the "blood eye". It is a common sight when the cichla is enraged with fright or anger.
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Thats what I go by aswell...

Its good to see that you guys have made up :hearts:

Now we can get on with the cichla discussion :headbang2
 
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