Lenticulata? Strigata? Need ID please

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Plowed

Candiru
MFK Member
Sep 12, 2006
218
5
48
Los Angeles, CA
So here's two pics...one from when I got it 8 months ago at appx 6" in length, and one from today, currently 13" in length. Not sure what it is, but it was ID'd as a Lenticulata by a couple different folks on this site and others way back when. Any help is much appreciated :thumbsup: -EDIT- If anyone knows the sex as well, that would also be appreciated :thumbsup:

then....

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now....

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pretty whatever it is :)
 
This is becoming a topic of ever increasing interest to me. It seems that since lenticulata became "fashionable" a couple of years ago many of the juveniles purchased back then are starting show up on the web as adults... and not many of them look like true lenticulata. Most appear to be what has become to be known as Cr. strigata "Red Back". Personally I don't think they are a true strigata but rather a geographical variant of lenticulata or possibly a new species altogether.

Keep in mind that lents are highly variable and even within the same population there are many variances. When you start looking at fish collected from numerous points of origin it gets very difficult to say what is what.

I saw where some of these fish in question were purchased from John Raymond at ECZS. I know that his fish came in with a shipment of fish from Venezuela.

True lents develop rows of large black splotches along their sides and seem to retain the face spotting. These new fish starting to manifest themselves are losing all spotting along their face and body. They are also showing a high amount of red along the back and in their fins.

I wish more people had kept photo journals showing these fish's progression as they matured. It might help us better understand what we have and that various color/pattern changes they move through on their way to adulthood.

I have some excellent examples of large lents but need to check with the photographer to make sure posting his pics are appropriate. It is very obvious when you see them how different they are vs. the fish used to start this thread.
 
Thank you, based on those photos, it definitely appears to be a dark Strigata. It has vertical stripes, not "fuzzy" spots along the length.
 
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