Hoplias Mala Var (amber)?

[mad ness]

Came across this website (prob already posted but if u haven't seen it, some good stuff in there, browse thru the prev. months):
http://www.aquamonsters.com/gallery/characin.htm

Listed a Hoplias Mala Var, "rare amber"... looking at the photos, the color around the gill plates is reflective/bronze/gold flake.

anyone know anything about this? Thanks.

 

[channarox]

a variant of malabaricus that looks gold like that,hence "amber".
thats all i can come up with,just a variant really.

 

[mad ness]

ok so are most mala's of a greyish silver/white or mustard/tan (examples below) color versus above mala which is "gold"? Which then is the "common mala"?

Grey - are these rio de janeiro?

Tan - most pictures found listed as "sp" or "san francisco" or "araguaia"?

 

[sharp tooth]

this is my mala.

i bought him because of his colour.

he has gold streaks across his head and around his gill plates, also his scales along his body also reflect gold when the light catches them. (when i first posted i said it was blue but that must have been the shop lighting). his finnage is yellow with yellow spots.

he was wild caught from argentina, i can see him being call "sp,Amber"

i have never see a mala like mine. pictures are poor need a better camera but you can see a small amount of his gold shine.

 

[channarox]

ok so are most mala's of a greyish silver/white or mustard/tan (examples below) color versus above mala which is "gold"? Which then is the "common mala"?

Grey - are these rio de janeiro?

Tan - most pictures found listed as "sp" or "san francisco" or "araguaia"?

as has been said before,color cannot be a pin point for variants since even fish from the same collection point can look very different from each other.
this is true with wolf fish,cichla,and everything else.
ive had several wolf fish from the same collection point look totally different from each other,some being jet black,some more golden.
but the "more common" mala would be those greyish ones.
oh,and several of your pics arent even malas.

 

[mad ness]

as has been said before,color cannot be a pin point for variants since even fish from the same collection point can look very different from each other.
this is true with wolf fish,cichla,and everything else.
ive had several wolf fish from the same collection point look totally different from each other,some being jet black,some more golden.
but the "more common" mala would be those greyish ones.
oh,and several of your pics arent even malas.

right, i went by what LFS's listed them as. obviously i can't tell. Reason I ask is because my "mala" has been developing the similar gold/bronzing on the head and a silver lateral line over the base tan/brownish color. when i first posted the fish for ID, lower jaw structure, and MFK members confirmed it was a mala. But I've always thought mine looked a bit different than ones come across in person and internet.

 

[mad ness]

this is my mala.

i bought him because of his colour.

he has gold streaks across his head and around his gill plates, also his scales along his body also reflect gold when the light catches them. (when i first posted i said it was blue but that must have been the shop lighting). his finnage is yellow with yellow spots.

he was wild caught from argentina, i can see him being call "sp,Amber"

i have never see a mala like mine. pictures are poor need a better camera but you can see a small amount of his gold shine.

Mine looks exactly like yours but larger more mature structure. will post photos later.

 

[mad ness]

camera muted colors a bit

 

[channarox]

nice fish,but a malabaricus nonetheless.

 

[mad ness]

right, but what i want to understand is whether there's an "amber" variant on mala. or whether all tan/brown ones look like this. thanks