Help With Identity/Species
- Thread starter godfirst
- Start date
this setup is definitely a disaster just waiting to happen. hopefully you can separate the serra sooner rather than later. either way good luck...
Yes, there will be seperation soon. They do swim together in a school from time to time. The pygos are so shy and timid at the moment.
In the scientific name of a fish cf. means compare or confer and is used because that particular species is compared to a similar species and is used until a species is properly identified, if ever.
Correct. Often times CF means "complex form" which means there are tons of piranha that are contained to a family tree that have yet to be scientifically described into there own species example would be rhombeus... there is only technically serrasalmus rhombeus but in the "trade" we describe as "gold diamond" "black diamond" "blue diamond" or "black rhom" some are described based on their point of collection "Peruvian rhom" "xingu rhom" "Bolivian rhom" a rhom is a rhom but the scientifically described rhombeus is technically S. Rhombeus... high back, dark scales, red eyes... so the others would fall under serrasalmus rhombeus cf they are complex forms of serrasalmus rhombeus and technically rhombeus until they are scientifically described otherwise. Spilopleura cf is probably the most confusing with so many fish falling into the general description of spilopleura but not quit fitting into the scientific definition and are therefore complex forms of that species again until someone goes back to south America and scientifically describes more species or confirms that these examples are not unique species but rather genetic expressions based on water quality of their collection point. So in short OP's piranha is most likely a piranha that appears to be closely related to either a rhombeus or spilopleura that is either not from a typical collection point or has yet to be described outside of its general description of "rhombeus" or "spilopleura"
