Vieja Melanurus and Vieja Bifasciatus
- Thread starter Ghage
- Start date
I have both and there is a noticable difference in body shape. My Melanurus is a longer, more slender fish. Both of mine came from Rapps as well and are both approx the same size at around 8-9". Either way cool fish and very pretty.
Ghage;4071206; said:
The pic of the syn is not the best but you can see the color and shape difference. The melanrus has difference colored eyes as well. The melanrus is much more aggressive as well.
nice, melanarus is next on my list. I love the vieja's my dream tank(saving for it now)is a 10' long by 4' wide by 3' tall with all male veija(argentea,blackbelt,synspilum,melanarus,heterospilus,zonatus,turyensis,regani)hopefully thats enough room for that set up to work(thats my dream)
I'd say it's a Syn as well. I've kept both many times. Mel's are more elongate and not 'tall' and have more of a black bottom 1/4 with a 3/4 gold top. Nice fish regardless.
Just to comment more, when I ordered mine I asked Jeff is they were the same fish. His opinion is they are not the same speicies and told me I would for sure be able to tell they are not the same fish. Sure enough you can see in the pics above, not even close. Below is the comment he made to me in an email:
"You'll see a marked difference between the two Vieja that will convince you beyond a doubt that they are separate species. The mels I work with are of a gorgeous Guatemalan race."
I purchased my mel and syn at the same time and they were the same size. Hope this helps with the discussion. I know Rapps had another race of Mels in this past year and if I remember correctly they were thought to be more of a mix between the two. Maybe this is the race you have.
"You'll see a marked difference between the two Vieja that will convince you beyond a doubt that they are separate species. The mels I work with are of a gorgeous Guatemalan race."
I purchased my mel and syn at the same time and they were the same size. Hope this helps with the discussion. I know Rapps had another race of Mels in this past year and if I remember correctly they were thought to be more of a mix between the two. Maybe this is the race you have.
