monos or ocellaris?
- Thread starter gman
- Start date
Brian Scott said:
i definitely hate to disagree with one of my favorite columnists, but they look like monos.
and on a side note, hey Brian, can you do an article on datnoids??? I bet you get asked that kind of question alot.
I couldn't find the article I found yesterday about the difference between the two. What I do remember is that the bars of the C. Monoculus are wider than the C. Ocellaris. And also, from the same article, the bars disappear on the C. Ocellaris when they are larger, around 4lbs, but the monoculus keep the bars. I wanted to give credit to that article I found, but I couldn't locate it. All I did is search the words - difference ocellaris monoculus without any quotes, and I found that website, but now it is not showing or couldn't recognize it. It also mentioned that it is difficult to differentiate until it gets to around 6-8 inches. I'll keep looking for the article. At the current picture, I believe the fish in the picture above are C. Ocellaris. But I am not a taxonomist (disclaimer).
I noticed two distinct features of the peacock bass i currently have. and am basing the observation that Jeff Rapps posted on his site about "green butterfly fish" C. Ocellaris. I currently have five, the two 10 inchers I just purchased got sick and died. I should've known they appear pretty skinny. oh well, back to the subject, the two peacock bass that my buddy Mariano gave me, whcih were about 12 and 14 inchers, appears to be more green than the other two, 14 and 16 inchers, that i purchased at the local fish store. I was going to capture the difference for the camera, but couldn't show the difference on film.
monocs 
time will tell you for sure 100% but based on lower jaw,head and mid body shape,and dorsals I have to stick with monoculus
also most of the ocellaris I have and have had displayed deep red eye by that size very often...especially at feeding time they would be a deep blood red and hold the color for hours after. Also all of my monoculus have the dark patterning down the tail trunk, whereas none of the 15 ocellaris from different regions do.......just observations. give it some time and you will know...either way they are some great looking cichla.
time will tell you for sure 100% but based on lower jaw,head and mid body shape,and dorsals I have to stick with monoculus also most of the ocellaris I have and have had displayed deep red eye by that size very often...especially at feeding time they would be a deep blood red and hold the color for hours after. Also all of my monoculus have the dark patterning down the tail trunk, whereas none of the 15 ocellaris from different regions do.......just observations. give it some time and you will know...either way they are some great looking cichla.