ID BABY
- Thread starter plausible
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Hey
They are awesome pets, should you decide to keep it. Don't bother with the worms - flakes and pellets are great for these fish.
They are awesome pets, should you decide to keep it. Don't bother with the worms - flakes and pellets are great for these fish.
O. niloticus and O. mossambicus look very similar at that size so I wouldn't pin a species ID on it till it was about 3".
O. niloticus should have red eyes and tend to keep a more tightly vertically barred pattern whereas O. mossambicus will show the two horizontal tripes and the vertical bars will not be as obvious even as it grows older and gains size.
Either way it will be a large-growing fish and will not be difficult to keep. Niles, Mozzies and Blue Tilapia will eat anything and don't fuss about water. Very hardy fish and pretty damn fun!
O. niloticus should have red eyes and tend to keep a more tightly vertically barred pattern whereas O. mossambicus will show the two horizontal tripes and the vertical bars will not be as obvious even as it grows older and gains size.
Either way it will be a large-growing fish and will not be difficult to keep. Niles, Mozzies and Blue Tilapia will eat anything and don't fuss about water. Very hardy fish and pretty damn fun!
As shown by the O. mossambicus baby picture, it is quite obviously a niloticus. (I raise them, I should know.) There is a slight body shape difference, and coloration differences that only an experienced Oreochromis keeper could distinguish.
I appreciate the doubts, but having raised both species, I'm putting my money where I know it should go
I still say it's a nice O. niloticus.
I appreciate the doubts, but having raised both species, I'm putting my money where I know it should go
I still say it's a nice O. niloticus.
santoury;940723; said:As shown by the O. mossambicus baby picture, it is quite obviously a niloticus. (I raise them, I should know.) There is a slight body shape difference, and coloration differences that only an experienced Oreochromis keeper could distinguish.
I appreciate the doubts, but having raised both species, I'm putting my money where I know it should go
I still say it's a nice O. niloticus.
That's nice and all, but I guess I could say I raise O. mossambicus and therefore it is O. mossambicus ...but it wouldn't necessarily make it true.
strait, let me ask you... do you in fact raise them?
If so, let's see some more pics of same-sized babies and we can compare them!
If so, let's see some more pics of same-sized babies and we can compare them!
santoury;941555; said:
Would I bother saying I did if I didn't? If you've forgotten the ID thread in which you insisted a fish that was clearly not C. sajica was C. sajica, I made it known that I'd never kept C. sajica off the bat.
So yes, I do raise my own O. mossambicus, but I don't bother photographing them much though especially at the unimpressive smaller sizes.
Why not ask the same of yourself? Where are your 2" O. niloticus pics?
I'm not saying there's a big unmistakable difference between them that can be easily distinguished through pictures of similarly sized fish. In fact, I'm saying both species look very similar while small and that besides barring and eyecolor, there's not much to tell them apart at that size.
Fishyfan's juvie pictures of O. mossambicus are up and to be honest I don't see much of a difference between those and the ones OP posted but I know from experience body shape, especially in younger fish, doesn't really mean much.
Why not compare those to pics of O. niloticus juvies here:
http://atlas.drpez.org/Oreochromis-niloticus-fotos
Body shapes range from the tall and squat to more long and slender. I've observed the same range in O. mossambicus.
I replied similarly to Fishyfan's inquiry when his/her fish were posted on another forum for ID. I could have said they were without a doubt O. mossambicus, just like I could now with plausable's fish, but I'm not so full of myself to do so. I know full well there's a 50/50 chance the fish can be either.
