Wild-Caught Mesonauta festivum

[Dan F]

Just a few photos of my Festivums. I bought two of them several months ago at around 1.5" or 2". They were sold as "Wild-caught, Peru" so I don't know exactly which region they come from.

They are really starting to color up nicely, but my camera doesn't do them justice. I feel that these are a very underrated fish, they combine some of the features of a Severum and an Angel in an interesting way.

 

[jonclark96]

Looking good! They have some of the best colors I have seen on a festivum.

 

[HiImSean]

very nice festivum, i love mine

 

[3dees]

are thier more than one strains of festivum's? I have 4 wilds from peru, but mine are silver. great shots by the way.

 

[Dan F]

Looking good! They have some of the best colors I have seen on a festivum.

Thanks! The camera didn't really catch it, but they have a nice purple sheen on their underside as well.

very nice festivum, i love mine

Thanks, they're a couple of my favorites.

are thier more than one strains of festivum's? I have 4 wilds from peru, but mine are silver. great shots by the way.

I imagine there are, but I don't know for sure. I have seen silver colored Festivums as well, but mine have more of a bronze base color.

 

[darth pike]

Yours look to be M. mirificus to me ... the yellow under the mouth, the sixth band splitting, and the ringed ocellus ... plus they are from Peru.

 

[ryansmith83]

There are several species of Mesonauta. Most look the same. Supposedly the best way to identify them is with their bars and color, but I got a multitude of opinions on the identity of my two groups when I posted pictures. I think the current groupings are:

Mesonauta festivus
Mesonauta insignis
Mesonauta acora
Mesonauta egregius
Mesonauta guyanae
Mesonaura mirificus

My first group was supposedly M. acora and my second was supposedly M. festivus. They were all wild-caught. The problem is that, even within the groups, there were extreme differences. I had one very yellow individual in each group while the rest were more silver. In my group of M. festivus, one of the fish had strong yellow color, red eyes, and blue-lined lips. None of the others looked like that. So I don't know if I had a mix of fish and they were all being sold as the same species, or if there's just that much variation among them.

 

[jpmroane]

Nice fish, no one has these anymore.

I had a few festivums a few years back. Got some at different places and they were obviously different species. One was larger and more yellow-white. The other was smaller with a more iridescent blue and purple on the side.

 

[jonclark96]

I have a group of insignis growing out. They seem to have a bit more yellow than the others that I have seen around.

 

[Dan F]

Yours look to be M. mirificus to me ... the yellow under the mouth, the sixth band splitting, and the ringed ocellus ... plus they are from Peru.

Thanks for the I.D. - I didn't know there were species other than M. festivus (I was calling it M. festivum earlier) and M. insignis.

There are several species of Mesonauta. Most look the same. Supposedly the best way to identify them is with their bars and color, but I got a multitude of opinions on the identity of my two groups when I posted pictures. I think the current groupings are:

Mesonauta festivus
Mesonauta insignis
Mesonauta acora
Mesonauta egregius
Mesonauta guyanae
Mesonaura mirificus

My first group was supposedly M. acora and my second was supposedly M. festivus. They were all wild-caught. The problem is that, even within the groups, there were extreme differences. I had one very yellow individual in each group while the rest were more silver. In my group of M. festivus, one of the fish had strong yellow color, red eyes, and blue-lined lips. None of the others looked like that. So I don't know if I had a mix of fish and they were all being sold as the same species, or if there's just that much variation among them.

Interesting! Are there any books on the genus, or do you have any good links?

Nice fish, no one has these anymore.

I had a few festivums a few years back. Got some at different places and they were obviously different species. One was larger and more yellow-white. The other was smaller with a more iridescent blue and purple on the side.

Yeah, I actually had to look around quite a bit for these. I would say these are both of the blue/purple color scheme.

I have a group of insignis growing out. They seem to have a bit more yellow than the others that I have seen around.

Insignis is at the top of my list - even though I have been told more than once (by my better half) that I have enough fish already...