I got 6 new cuda a few days ago and they were suppost to be red tailed Ace falcatus but they are something i have never seen before. 3 of the 5 have 2 solid stripes running from nose to tail. And the other do not. They all have a severe over bite, there top jaw is longer than the bottom. I have kept many red tail and yellow tails in the past even down to 1.5'' and they never were stripped. These guys are all about 3'' and are eating well. They have new little lumps in there belly every day. Which is a really good sign for new cuda's this size. For those that have never tried keeping them they are a very hard fish to keep at first. Long ago I thought my payara were fragile, not anymore. From research i think they maybe Acestrorhynchus isalinae which is a fish that is supposed to get no bigger than 4-6'' but lately they have grown to sizes of over 12'' and lost the stripes. Another possibility to me is that they could be A. heterolepis which is a stripped cuda that gets to around 10''+ and keeps the stripes. I am pretty limited on cuda knowledge and have only kept 10 or so specimens in the last 15 yrs. And out of those 10 only 2-3 made it past the 3 month mark. All died from tail rot. -----------------------------------------So what do you think the ID is?
