I love the orange colored ones whichever you call them. At the Shedd Aquarium they have a tank full of them labeled as synspilum. A bunch have torn up fins but their colors are still amazing. I should ask if I could take the beat up ones home. Lol.
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Okay wow. Thanks everyone. So the synspilus/synspilum latin name is no longer recognized in any form, or just for one genus? Also, would it seem safe to assume that that maybe the two at my LFS are just both colour morphs? Either way I find both fish to very attractive and plan on adding both to my current collection.
Okay wow. Thanks everyone. So the synspilus/synspilum latin name is no longer recognized in any form, or just for one genus? Also, would it seem safe to assume that that maybe the two at my LFS are just both colour morphs? Either way I find both fish to very attractive and plan on adding both to my current collection.
Without photos it is difficult to say what the "red-headed" cichlid is at you LFS. While that common name is often used for synspilum (err, melanurus), it could also be used to describe bifasciatus or fenestratus. As for genus, that really depends on where you look. I believe that the most up to date name is Paraneetroplus for all fish that once belonged to Vieja and Paratheraps, as well as those already listed under Paraneetroplus. However, many sources (including The Cichlid Room Companion), continue to refer to Vieja and Paratheraps as distinct genera.
Okay that helps a lot. So synspilum just tends to be the trade name used to sell them in smaller local stores from what I am understanding. But it is not odd to find multiple different fish all offered under the same name? I will try and get a picture of them when I go back to the store to pick mine up. After some of the pictures I have now seen I am quite excited to see just what I end up with,
Don't expect all syns look as good as the ones in Shedd Aquarium as LFS stocks vary quite a bit in color quality. IMO, bifas look closest to syns as both fish share similar body shape, red head, and gold base color. No other Vieja species I know of carry gold based color and red head.
Comments: For many years the most popular scientific name for this fish was that of its junior synonym P. synspilus, although the differences between species were not always clear. DNA analysis showed them as sister species with a low number of differences. McMahan et al (2011) have made a morphological comparison between the two species and finally determined the synonymy of them. Being P. melanurus the older name available, this name prevails, although being less popular than that now in junior synonymy.
Taxonomy based on morphology holds much less merit (to me at least) than analysis of DNA. Cichlid species even in the same population can display an amazing array of morphological differences and Paratheraps are not an exception to this. I consider the different looking populations different variants of P. melanurus...
It's true that morphological differences do not necessarily distinct species. Look at dog species that vary greatly in size, behavior and morphological differences among the hundred breeds of dog, and wolf. However, to hobbyists, morphological differences matter everything, not DNA. When I buy a melanuras, I expect it to look like a melanuras, not a synspillum even though they are one and the same species according to DNA.
I am not too sure how tight it is to use DNA to distinguish species. There are different ways to compare DNA, not just one way, and the standard used to distinguish one species from another based on DNA is not as uniform as one thinks.
