Odd rotkeils. Severum i.d. ?

[hamfist]

Hamfist, did you get them from a 'Maidenhead' lfs? like i said earlier, my local MA has these labelled as 'Heros Appendiculatus' they are deffo not Rotkeils that you have.

I did get them from a MA. I'm intending to phone them on monday to see if I can get any further info or history about them.

Why are you sooooo sure they are not rotkeils, of some variety ? They have the red shoulder .........

I'll agree they do not look identical to most of the typical rotkeils out there. But that doesn't mean they are not some unusual Rotkeil variant.

Just trying to keep an open mind, and not make snap judgements about things.

 

[HybridGS]

Because i have kept and bred loads of Rotkeils and other Severums and they look nothing like them.

Maidenhead calls them 'Orange neck Severums'/'Heros Appendiculatus' which have orange on the body and in the dorsal and anal fins, whereas Rotkeil's have a much more prominent blue face (orange necks have a more misty/metallic blue), stress bars, yellow anal fin that goes orange/red....also these 'Orange necks' get a LOT bigger, in my local Maidenhead they have a few in the big ray tank and they are over 10" easily and very deep like the common 'Heros Efaciatus'....the biggest Rotkeil i have owned over the years was just under 8" total length (including tail)

However i saw a picture of a 'Heros Appendiculatus' from Rapps and it looks like a normal green Sev, so my guess is Hybrid or something new altogether.

 

[ryansmith83]

Heros appendiculatus was considered a turquoise severum, but that species is no longer valid. Those fish are now classified as Heros efasciatus, or green severums. I still think that turquoise and greens are different fish as there are several differences, and the rotkiels are more similar to the turquoise, but supposedly at the end of the day they're all variants of the same species. *shrug*

 

[chevyguy15]

 

[chevyguy15]

 

[hamfist]

Aha Chevyguy. Yours looks the same as mine. But what are they ?

What were yours sold as ? What do you believe they are ?

 

[hamfist]

in my local Maidenhead they have a few in the big ray tank and they are over 10" easily and very deep like the common 'Heros Efaciatus'

That's interesting. thanks

 

[maxy]

Been checking it out a bit and wild caught rotties can lose their stress bars completly with age and are more silvery in colour rather than the darker colour you mostly see which have been bred with greens to try get better colour. When in breeding colour they almost appear black with a very intense red shoulder. Saying that it dont explain why your young fish have no bars.

 

[Wills88]

Ryan - you have picked up something that has been confusing me a lot recently I was sure that the turquoise severum (which I agree with you is a valid species) was called Heros appendiculatus but now it seems that Heros appendiculatus is referring to an efasticious type severum with an orange neck as opposed to the rotkiel with the red neck. I dont understand why they dropped one species and then added an other with the same name? There are tons of Severums that still need naming - but with such an obvious elephant in the room like Rotkiel still not fully described in the group I think getting turquoise, belem and the other more unusual species formally named is a while off yet. That said I am starting to wonder why and how the orange neck has picked up a full name of Heros appendiculatus? As it is seeming to be a more common name in forums, shops and magazines.

Ham - with these I think they are the orange necked Heros appendiculatus crossed with a gold? Or perhaps they are Heros appendiculatus with a some kind of Leustic gene? Actually thats perhaps what I would put my money on them being Leustic Heros appendiculatus? Really nice fish either way

Wills