Royal Nile Perch
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thats a common Lates niloticus and a very nice specimen too 
although i own one id hate too see Lates mariae (the other large afro perch) becoming more common in trade until more research is done into there existing populations and fisherman's reports of steep declines....
although i own one id hate too see Lates mariae (the other large afro perch) becoming more common in trade until more research is done into there existing populations and fisherman's reports of steep declines....
we call those the royal, as they could possibly be the true nile perch, they come out of congo, but don't grow as large, and fast, and usually have very high contrasting colors.
in the past we've received them from Nigeria, they only exhibit this color when really small, but typically will fade into a uniformly brown/gray color, and grow much faster. I was told those may actually be a hybrid, and introduced into the wild as food source, one of the original ones to cause the depletion and eco imbalance. of course I have no way of proving this, but I do as well have years of experience with this group, Lates.
I've kept Lates microlepis, and angustifron as well, and the Marine ones, L. japonicus, calcarifer
As for your mariae, I would love to see a picture of it, as I have not seen a mariae since the group that I saw at Shedd aquarium back in the 1990s. The ones I thought were mariae I believe turned out to be microlepis. The mariae I saw at shedd had big eyes, and were swift swimmers, not like most others that are more stationary.
Wes
in the past we've received them from Nigeria, they only exhibit this color when really small, but typically will fade into a uniformly brown/gray color, and grow much faster. I was told those may actually be a hybrid, and introduced into the wild as food source, one of the original ones to cause the depletion and eco imbalance. of course I have no way of proving this, but I do as well have years of experience with this group, Lates.
I've kept Lates microlepis, and angustifron as well, and the Marine ones, L. japonicus, calcarifer
As for your mariae, I would love to see a picture of it, as I have not seen a mariae since the group that I saw at Shedd aquarium back in the 1990s. The ones I thought were mariae I believe turned out to be microlepis. The mariae I saw at shedd had big eyes, and were swift swimmers, not like most others that are more stationary.
Wes
thats a common Lates niloticus and a very nice specimen too
although i own one id hate too see Lates mariae (the other large afro perch) becoming more common in trade until more research is done into there existing populations and fisherman's reports of steep declines....
fairone fugu theres pics on here but ill get some freshies and pm em over in the next day or so.... (Its either a true big eye or a horribly stunted nile...) Id scale count but couldnt find the numbers on big eyes??? I love to talk lates and afro sp... ive got friends who work along the congo.... the hybrid idea is a ingesting one but has it even been proven possible? ive never read of a hybrid with in Lates? and hybird viger is unproven in all sp is it not?
I'll agree there does to be two strains of niloticus in the hobby but ive always put it down to isolated evolution ie lake specimen grow smaller river grow bigger or vise versa???
fugu you naughty man where on earth did you get micro's from well i know but tryna get tanz exporters/collectors to get me some has always failed...
I'll agree there does to be two strains of niloticus in the hobby but ive always put it down to isolated evolution ie lake specimen grow smaller river grow bigger or vise versa???
fugu you naughty man where on earth did you get micro's from well i know but tryna get tanz exporters/collectors to get me some has always failed...
One of my favorites. That's definitely a royal. Mine is about 10" now. Cool fish for sure
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Interesting story on the perch I've heard but i could be wrong apparently they were transfered into the lake victoria system in the mid 60's early 70's to keep up with the locals demand for a food and income source then for awhile the population exploded decimating the number of the smaller victorian chichlid species but demand for the perch soon began exceeding the supply putting natives in a bad situation since they became so reliant upon them with perch numbers down the afformentioned smaller species are on the rise again theres my rant for the day hahaha
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