One more for you experts! Festae or Uropthalmus?

[tooth517]

I wish I had an Andrew Jackson for every "Festae or Mayan?" thread, but here it is. I am far from an expert on species identification (especially juveniles), but have researched a bit and I'm 99.5% sure now this is a mayan. My reason for this is the large spot on it's tail. Is it foolproof that when the tail spot goes down more than halfway to the bottom it is a mayan? The bars above the head on this one seemed to be more like a festae but most of the pictures I see of real "red terrors" seem to show only the upper portion of the tail covered by the spot. I'm going with Mayan, and thats my final answer!

 

[qguy]

Urapthalmus

 

[specialized002]

I would say uro...

 

[mbeatrice]

mayen deff not festae

 

[tooth517]

I bought this fish figuring it was a mayan and I told the lady at the lfs I thought the wholesaler was scamming. I only paid $6 for it and I like the color of this one so will keep it. It seems to get along relatively well with the rest of the fish in my 135 gallon, with the exception of the tinfoil barbs who it seems to love to torment! I guess I won't have to worry about getting another big tank to keep a homicidal festae in now.

 

[Jason_S]

no, the tailspot is not foolproof...I prefer to look at the vertical bars for clarification as the tailspot on juvenile festae can sometimes appear larger and look more like a uro.

having said that however, I'd still say your fish is uro.

 

[Aquanero]

Looks like a Mayan.

 

[honda237]

ow man, you got another one. The one you gave me looks really good. I will have to update you soon with pictures.

 

[tooth517]

Yeah, this one looks sweet and not so aggressive. I'll be keeping this one. I would love to see some pics of yours.

 

[Gruff Master]

I was burned many times on the Festae hunt until trial and lots of error finally rewarded me with some Festae. You have a Uro. Keep it and let it grow out. You'll probably love it.