VRWC;3709452; said:
Thats interesting. Ive owned 3 variants of carpintis (with 1 new locale variant on the way) and currently have 7 cyanos and Ive never had a carpintis with spots even remotely close to being as small as they are on yours...especially in the face. Also, for me, its usually easier to tell the difference once they are past 3 inches.
Do you know the source of the fish (as in the breeder or collector) or the variant of carpintis?
The source of this female is mine. She's a fry from a pair of 4" Carpintis that I bought from a pet store a few years back who got them directly from one of their trusted breeders. The owner of that store was against selling hybrids or "painted" fish, so I doubt he was duped. They were sold as a pair only, and I honestly don't know anything about the different variants floating out there--although I have certainly witnessed many varied colorations and patterns. It is probably safe to say that it'd be highly unlikely to get a 100% pure texas or carpintis with how similar they are in appearance these days, however it is chanceable.
What I do know, is the older my females got, the smaller their spots got--especially between the eyes. None of the Texas I've ever owned had spots between the eyes at all--rather a flat, dull bluish green bald area as you'll see below. Yet, I also had some Texas whose spots got larger as they aged along their body and gill areas.
When my Carpintis pair kept spawning and disallowed me to add anything else to the tank, I sold them and kept a few of the offspring from their last batch. The female you see showcased is one of their offspring. When she was young, her spots were very large--as she aged and went into breeding dress, she turned sheer white headed and black bodied--just like her mother. As she got older, some of her spots became smaller--especially around the face.
As far as spots go, the one thing that sets her immediately apart from the Texas I have is the spots between the eyes. Other than that, her body style is different than the Texas--which to me was the easiest way to tell them apart. She's slender and more elongated, while the Texas are thick and high-bodied in comparison.
I will add some pictures of some Texas I have below--I apologize in advance for their poor quality, as I just took quick shots for quick posting.
I will search and see if I have any juvenile shots of the mother and these Texas as well. I've raised all of these from fry.
All of the pictures below are Texas. Notice how none of them have spots between the eyes like the Carpintis in the original photo--very clear on the frontal shot listed first. You cannot go by the size of spots or spangles on these fish--you must go by location of them. Carpintis' will have spots or wavy line colorations all over the face--especially the males.
Ultimately, though, there's no way of knowing for sure that the female I own doesn't have some Texas in her ancestory--and it could be quite possible. I will say her patterns do not match that of her parents, as their spangles weren't nearly as broken up and as small as hers. What I can ensure, however, is she came from Carptintis parents, and she does show the spangles between the eyes, unlike Texas which always have none.
Anyhow, I based these ideas on my own experiences on raising and collecting fish over the years, so who knows--I could be wrong about some things. If so, I don't mind learning new information, as I'm quite open minded. In the end, we all know there's never a 100% absolute regarding all species of Cichlids--which is why they're constantly being renamed, reclassified, etc.
To me, what matters most is that I am happy with my pets.
