Paraneetroplus melanurus 'Orange' All Lit Up

[notho2000]

Wow. That second chocolate is a beast already. And it will yet gain more head!

Yes, they're 5 years old, about 10" TL, and I think they've maxed out for length. They're just getting thicker. I've got their females in another couple of tanks plus some young wild stock that have just started breeding. Here's a pic of them.

very nice . What size tank are they in ?, rgds Pat

Thanks. They're in a 135G (5'x2'x18" deep). Too crowded for my liking but they seem to make do.

Wow!! You have some beautiful fish.

Thank you.

Beautiful fish. I actually like Melanuras better than Synspillum because it has more red throughout the body. The chocolate are also very nice. The male has that weird looking double hump in the head.

Thanks, and yes, older Chocolates look a little grotesque. As far as which form of 'melanurus is more colorful, I thinkbased upon my fish that they are equally striking, but in different ways. Here's a pic of my red form male along with the orange for comparison.

Awesome fish! What is the relationship between the temporalis and the parrot's like?

They pretty much ignore one another in this tank.

Melanurus and Synspilum are according to the scientists the same species.

Yes, apparently they are, but sometimes it's hard to imagine that they are, based upon color and body shape. The orange form are very much slower in growth and tend to be more elongate than the red, especially when young. Also temperment wise, I have found that the ''melanurus' orange are much more combative than the red form. They're always scrapping at one another.

 

[petspoiler]

there are people with magic water on mfk.
you made my list.

 

[viejafish]

Whether synspillum and melanurus are the same or different species is a matter of debate among taxonomists. In mammals, there are clear standards for speciation, such as two distinct species cannot cross breed to produce fertile youngs. In fish, the standards for speciation are arbitrary and can change over time resulting in constantly new and revised species names. Synspillum has red head, and melanurus has red distribution in the head, body and tail. Without clear standards, they can be classified either as two different races or two different species. Using similar arbitrary standards, black, yellow and white people can also be classified as different species as there are color and body shape differences among the races

 

[Mad Jack]

Notho2000, couldn't agree more. I have 4 good sized Lago Petens, found them more aggressive then most types of red head that I have owned, when younger. Rio Sarstun (Synspilum) I found particularly aggressive.

By the way I always enjoy your threads, you have a very nice collection of fish.

 

[tiger15]

I have never known that melanuras grows slower than synspillum as I have never grown two side by side. But I am currently raising a melanuras and a bifasiatus side by side and observed the differential growth rate. Both fish were purchased from Rapps at the same initial size of about 1.5 inch. The bifas out grown the melanura quickly and after 4 months, the bifas is over 4 inch and the melanuras is barely above 3 inch. Initially, I thought that the differential growth rate was due to gender difference, but after reading this thread I am not sure. Both fish were picked as male by Rapps but the gender is not a sure thing. I also compare the shape of my grown synspillum with the melanuras and notice the melanuras has a longer body. I am not sure whether the body shape difference is due to more recent domestication of melanuras than synspillum or just the genetic difference, as domesticated CAs tend to develop deeper body than wild fish.

 

[prashan]

very nice fish