My newest acquistion: sp. 'Conkeli'

[cchhcc]

Haven't had these in years. Got turned back on to them by another member's great pair.

Fresh out of the bag (and scared $&#*less!):

IMO, this fish is a Paratheraps species and the same one that's been called piebald fenestratus, pink fenestratus, sp. fenestratus 'Catemaco' (a reference to the lake where they're found), sp. 'Conkeli' (in honor of Don Conkel), and maybe a few other things.

The name issue was debated already here on MFK, and that's not my concern now. I really couldn't care LESS. If the supplier (Don Conkel Tropicals via my LFS) calls them sp. 'Conkeli' that's good enough for me!

They come in all kinds of colors. I picked mine based on the rainbow of colors present, but some are solid pink, white, orange, etc. Here are some of the others the LFS had on hand (but weren't lucky enough to go home with me!):

DCT and Ira (forum member) currently have them for sale if anyone is interested. I'll update the pics after the fish has settled in. Enjoy!

 

[Gruff Master]

Great fish no matter what they're called! Look forward to updated pics.

 

[caribemob]

cool fish , looks good however it doesn't really look much like buddha's pair, is it the same fish because budhha's pair don't have all those color's that your's has , his looks amph like a little

 

[TheFishJunky]

Its a paratheraps Fenestratus 'red fever piebald'

 

[TheFishJunky]

cool fish , looks good however it doesn't really look much like buddha's pair, is it the same fish because budhha's pair don't have all those color's that your's has , his looks amph like a little

every single one is completely different except the white and pink(solid color ones) I have at least 30 of them so you now know...........

 

[caribemob]

every single one is completely different except the white and pink(solid color ones) I have at least 30 of them so you now know...........

so thats the piebald variant and buddha has what? im kinda of confused now

 

[TheFishJunky]

so thats the piebald variant and buddha has what? im kinda of confused now

I've never seen Buddha's so I cant say?But I like the blue hues in the one the OP has-very nice.

 

[cchhcc]

so thats the piebald variant and buddha has what? im kinda of confused now

I think you're seeing a couple of differences.

One (and probably the most important) is Buddha's are very large and mature fish. They definitely have the body shape and look of very well conditioned adults. You don't see big bulls like that of ANY species for sale much. I haven't seen pairs of this species for sale in that condition anywhere, so he's lucky! The fish I shot the photos of are only 8"-9" or so and could use a little conditioning. The stress of shipping, etc. may be weighing on them. The other fish were certainly a little "rough."

Two, I heard something about a certain collection point on Buddha's fish (north end of the lake or something). It may therefore be a little different race. That's just a guess though.

All in all, though, color is not an indicator of a species, most especially a species like this that comes in many flavors. A citrinellus, for instance, is a citrinellus no matter the color.

 

[flowerpower]

Nice fish. I am also interested in hearing more about this fish in order to accurately distinguish between the piebald fene, the sp. Catemaco, the 'red fever', and the P. Conklii. One and the same? Or what?

 

[the animal guy]

no need for that. It will only make the hobby more confusing and complicated..
You can see the label says Conkeli.. Sucks for Buddha that he thinks he's the only one who has them..
He does have a nice male though.. They are a bit different from Buddha's because of many things.. Stress(fins close) , different cameras , lighting , size or maturity. ect..

These are still young and not even done fading off the blacks yet.. Congrats cchhcc!!! Please give us updates this year..

Dude I miss Animal Jungle.. I wonder if that kid Chase still works there... I used to go there like 2-4 days a week for a while when I got into cichlids because I pass by there all the time.. Huge fish department.