Thoughts on my 3 ATF situation

[Chicxulub]

Most common to least common, acknowledging the two unnamed varieties I assert are valid, but ignoring potential subspecies:

GATF- very common
cf. "big eye"- very common
VATF- common, but less frequent than the above
FATF- not unusual but not common
cf. "stout vatf"- comes in with GATF, "big eye" and vatf, but needs to get large to ID
BATF- only four definitively confirmed specimens in the hobby
TATF- completely absent from the hobby

GATF and cf. "big eye" come from the lower Congo, VATF can be found in the lower Congo but is more common in the upper Congo, the Rift Lakes and the eastward flowing rivers below the Zambezi. FATF and BATF are from the Sahel and are rarely imported. Brevis is so rare because it isn't a schooling fish and only comes in as a contaminant with FATF shipments, and when it does, it typically dies. TATF comes from two rivers in Tanzania and isn't imported at all.

As to your fish, those better pics make me suspect he's a cf. "big eye" as well, which makes sense since. The first set of pics you shared didn't show the coloration in the adipose fin well, which was a potential VATF sign, but in the new pics it is easy to tell that the adipose fin is fully colored, which is a cf. "big eye" diagnostic trait.

So, that being said, I feel you have one Hydrocynus goliath and two Hydrocynus cf. "big eye".

 

[fishtankphil]

I believe u have 1 gatf and 2 big eye atf like said above.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Most common to least common, acknowledging the two unnamed varieties I assert are valid, but ignoring potential subspecies:

GATF- very common
cf. "big eye"- very common
VATF- common, but less frequent than the above
FATF- not unusual but not common
cf. "stout vatf"- comes in with GATF, "big eye" and vatf, but needs to get large to ID
BATF- only four definitively confirmed specimens in the hobby
TATF- completely absent from the hobby

GATF and cf. "big eye" come from the lower Congo, VATF can be found in the lower Congo but is more common in the upper Congo, the Rift Lakes and the eastward flowing rivers below the Zambezi. FATF and BATF are from the Sahel and are rarely imported. Brevis is so rare because it isn't a schooling fish and only comes in as a contaminant with FATF shipments, and when it does, it typically dies. TATF comes from two rivers in Tanzania and isn't imported at all.

As to your fish, those better pics make me suspect he's a cf. "big eye" as well, which makes sense since. The first set of pics you shared didn't show the coloration in the adipose fin well, which was a potential VATF sign, but in the new pics it is easy to tell that the adipose fin is fully colored, which is a cf. "big eye" diagnostic trait.

So, that being said, I feel you have one Hydrocynus goliath and two Hydrocynus cf. "big eye".

If only I could, I'd give you a thousand likes and a hug. You're a mod. You can transfer 1000 likes from mine to yours, please.

 

[SSJ Crit]

Most common to least common, acknowledging the two unnamed varieties I assert are valid, but ignoring potential subspecies:

GATF- very common
cf. "big eye"- very common
VATF- common, but less frequent than the above
FATF- not unusual but not common
cf. "stout vatf"- comes in with GATF, "big eye" and vatf, but needs to get large to ID
BATF- only four definitively confirmed specimens in the hobby
TATF- completely absent from the hobby

GATF and cf. "big eye" come from the lower Congo, VATF can be found in the lower Congo but is more common in the upper Congo, the Rift Lakes and the eastward flowing rivers below the Zambezi. FATF and BATF are from the Sahel and are rarely imported. Brevis is so rare because it isn't a schooling fish and only comes in as a contaminant with FATF shipments, and when it does, it typically dies. TATF comes from two rivers in Tanzania and isn't imported at all.

As to your fish, those better pics make me suspect he's a cf. "big eye" as well, which makes sense since. The first set of pics you shared didn't show the coloration in the adipose fin well, which was a potential VATF sign, but in the new pics it is easy to tell that the adipose fin is fully colored, which is a cf. "big eye" diagnostic trait.

So, that being said, I feel you have one Hydrocynus goliath and two Hydrocynus cf. "big eye".

C Chicxulub Thank you for all your information!! It is scarce and invaluable information because not many people are in the position or have the opportunity to have dealt with this particular fish. Not to mention it's elusiveness by nature makes it less visible to the average aquarist. There are few experts in the world and you are probably leading the front because of your intimate knowledge from you living with the fish and seeing volumes of them for so long. Also, i really appreciate you taking the time to identify my fish. I am happy to finally know what they are.

Also thanks thebiggerthebetter another expert with intimate knowledge that has lived with many of the fish, for all your information and also for making my thread more visible to make this possible.

fishtankphil , thanks for you information aswell.

It's funny because I see their personalities developed quite prominently the Goliath is always in the middle of the column not appearing to ever be following anybody just seems to want to be alone.

The bottom fish seems the most active and is always schooling with the tinfoil Barb's as well as trying to school with the Goliath.

The middle fish which is the smallest one always always always stays on the bottom right at the substrate and never appears to want to group with anyone.

 

[moe214]

Chicx pretty much said everything lol only thing I wanted to add is about the flow. Some people say they’re fish act a little more skittish with it or that they seem to hit the walls of the tank more since they swim faster to get through the current. So maybe something to take into account about flow.

 

[Chicxulub]

If only I could, I'd give you a thousand likes and a hug. You're a mod. You can transfer 1000 likes from mine to yours, please.

Thank you my friend! A comment like this from a paragon of our community like you is worth way more than1,000 likes to me

(Though I could do that if I wanted to lol )

The bottom fish seems the most active and is always schooling with the tinfoil Barb's as well as trying to school with the Goliath.

The middle fish which is the smallest one always always always stays on the bottom right at the substrate and never appears to want to group with anyone.

This is interesting to me. The bottom hugging behavior is characteristic of cf. big eye, but not necessarily a requirement. There's still a lot of work to do (see the reply to your PM; there's seven unnamed varieties, I'm working with two) to sort this out, but I still feel fairly certain both of your fish are big eye.

 

[moe214]

Taking a look at the sticky I agree with the big eye ID. If questionable now, it will be clearer as they grow for sure. The smallest for some reason had me Thinking vatf so I tried my best to count the fin rays what I got was closer to big eye. So I agree

 

[SSJ Crit]

Updated pictures after successfully eating pellets for about 3 weeks.

Top 2 pictures are of the smaller one and the bottom 2 pictures are of the medium sized one.

 

[Chicxulub]

The top one is definitely a big eye, the bottom one is some sort of vatf variant, gotta wait to see what kind though.

 

[SSJ Crit]

It seems a lot of the pictures online of the vittatus as well as on your ID thread one thing I notice is their heads are sloped downward almost like their whole body is shape of a sideways slice of Orange.