The Ultimate ORINOCENSIS ID Guide

[X-Tank]

well, great info, but from that map the rio negro branches into 2 rivers, then to all the rest. but in this map the orino looks like its an independant river system with a very small connection point. anyhow, i dont know how diffrent they could be yet, but i think that rio negro and orinoco orinos are very similar maybe a little diffrent but beyond that i am not possitive about. i guess we will find out in a couple months haha.

Green arrow indicates direction of river flows.
Red arrow indicates the connection.

Rio Negro is the largest left tributary of the Amazon and the largest blackwater river in the world. It has its sources along the watershed between the Orinoco and the Amazon basins, and also connects with the Orinoco by way of the Casiquiare canal. In Colombia, where the sources are located, it is called the Guainía River. Its main affluent is the Vaupés, which disputes with the headwaters of the Guaviare branch of the Orinoco, the drainage of the eastern slope of the Andes of Colombia. The Rio Negro flows into the Rio Solimões to form the Amazon River below Manaus, Brazil.

 

[CichlaRyan]

well,i know that but i just want to know for sure that these variations arn't from individual to the next. like in humans hair color, eye color maybe the same principles apply in fish's scale patterns, and eyes (red eyes been known to be found in orinos but not all have them). i don;t know how to explain this any further.

 

[jcardona1]

well,i know that but i just want to know for sure that these variations arn't from individual to the next. like in humans hair color, eye color maybe the same principles apply in fish's scale patterns, and eyes (red eyes been known to be found in orinos but not all have them). i don;t know how to explain this any further.

great info James, once again you are the Google Master!

and cichlaryan, i see what youre saying. and in my personal opinion, these ARE variations from one individual to the next. that is why i say NOBODY can positively ID an orino based on looks alone. just look at the tons of pics in this thread. Can you draw a connection between Venz and Columbian orinos?

I'm willing to bet the answer is no. Granted the pics are mostly of orinos caught in venz, but even then. Look at the countless variations between the same species of fish caught in the SAME country! They all look totally different.

Orinos are the one species of bass that in my opinion have the most variation. Most other species will more or less all look alike. The ONLY time i think we can make an educated guess based off an orino's appearance is with those from the Rio Negro. And I'm not talking about those from the norther Rio Negro close to the Orinoco. I'm talking about those further south and closer to the Amazonas, like the ones near Unini and Tapera, as with this one. Notice the perfect round ocelli and the thick gold border. This is also similar to Michael's big rio negro:

What I really like about this thread is that it puts an end to all these myths about blue fins, round markings, diamond markings, venz, columbian etc etc. Based on these pics and all these variations of orinos caught in the wild, I'm confident when I say country of origin or collection point dont mean SQUAT as they can look completely different than other orinos from the same spot.

It's nice to know where they come from, but now I see that there is no way of telling what a young orino will look like based on where it came from. Only time will tell. You may like what you end up with, you may not. That's just part of owning cichla!!!

 

[LOPAKA]

.......thanks for the lesson Professor Google Cichla Nerd !!!

great info James, once again you are the Google Master!

and cichlaryan, i see what youre saying. and in my personal opinion, these ARE variations from one individual to the next. that is why i say NOBODY can positively ID an orino based on looks alone. just look at the tons of pics in this thread. Can you draw a connection between Venz and Columbian orinos?

I'm willing to bet the answer is no. Granted the pics are mostly of orinos caught in venz, but even then. Look at the countless variations between the same species of fish caught in the SAME country! They all look totally different.

Orinos are the one species of bass that in my opinion have the most variation. Most other species will more or less all look alike. The ONLY time i think we can make an educated guess based off an orino's appearance is with those from the Rio Negro. And I'm not talking about those from the norther Rio Negro close to the Orinoco. I'm talking about those further south and closer to the Amazonas, like the ones near Unini and Tapera, as with this one. Notice the perfect round ocelli and the thick gold border. This is also similar to Michael's big rio negro:
.......thanks for the lesson Professor Google Cichla Nerd !!!

What I really like about this thread is that it puts an end to all these myths about blue fins, round markings, diamond markings, venz, columbian etc etc. Based on these pics and all these variations of orinos caught in the wild, I'm confident when I say country of origin or collection point dont mean SQUAT as they can look completely different than other orinos from the same spot.

It's nice to know where they come from, but now I see that there is no way of telling what a young orino will look like based on where it came from. Only time will tell. You may like what you end up with, you may not. That's just part of owning cichla!!!

 

[CichlaRyan]

^^

yup, great stuff man, you know if the opportunity comes by to look at these guys scientificly, we should send DNA samples to a genetisist and have em analyse each specie from another to help us distinguish there diffrences on a possitive note. but i am that would cost allot of money hahah .

 

[jcardona1]

, variations exist in locales, but not countries.
Remember that research paper about sp. orinocensis??? Matter of fact, genetically there are only 3 variants:
1. rio Orinoco,
2. canal casiquiare ( "the" connection b/w rio orinoco and rio negro, and
3. rio negro.

yeah this is good info, on the three variations. it makes a lot more sense to go off of this then saying venz columbian. if you were to compare pics...

1. Casiquiare canal which connects Orinoco to Rio Negro (notice how these guys look a little more like the typical rio negro orinos

2. Rio Negros (further south, closer to the amazonas)

3. Orinoco (everything else you see in this thread and what most folks have)

And here's a nice map that shows the Casiquiare canal/river which flows West and drains the Orinoco into the Rio Negro. This is the only place that I'm aware where the two rivers connect

 

[X-Tank]

man.. you are good. We have to push harder to squeeze out that last drops of your juice....they don't come out easily.....from your knowledgeable brain of course.
I really enjoy the discussion.

great info James, once again you are the Google Master!
and cichlaryan, i see what youre saying. and in my personal opinion, these ARE variations from one individual to the next. that is why i say NOBODY can positively ID an orino based on looks alone. just look at the tons of pics in this thread. Can you draw a connection between Venz and Columbian orinos?
I'm willing to bet the answer is no. Granted the pics are mostly of orinos caught in venz, but even then. Look at the countless variations between the same species of fish caught in the SAME country! They all look totally different.
Orinos are the one species of bass that in my opinion have the most variation. Most other species will more or less all look alike. The ONLY time i think we can make an educated guess based off an orino's appearance is with those from the Rio Negro. And I'm not talking about those from the norther Rio Negro close to the Orinoco. I'm talking about those further south and closer to the Amazonas, like the ones near Unini and Tapera, as with this one. Notice the perfect round ocelli and the thick gold border. This is also similar to Michael's big rio negro:
What I really like about this thread is that it puts an end to all these myths about blue fins, round markings, diamond markings, venz, columbian etc etc. Based on these pics and all these variations of orinos caught in the wild, I'm confident when I say country of origin or collection point dont mean SQUAT as they can look completely different than other orinos from the same spot.
It's nice to know where they come from, but now I see that there is no way of telling what a young orino will look like based on where it came from. Only time will tell. You may like what you end up with, you may not. That's just part of owning cichla!!!

 

[CichlaRyan]

check this guy out you guys, woah.. they were in the buy and sell about a year or so ago i just pic up the pic because it stood out so much.

rio tomo's.

 

[jcardona1]

man.. you are good. We have to push harder to squeeze out that last drops of your juice

 

[jcardona1]

check this guy out you guys, woah.. they were in the buy and sell about a year or so ago i just pic up the pic because it stood out so much.

rio tomo's.

wow those are nice! nice Orinoco's