NTD....

[hwchoy]

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On 1/20/2002 12:56:32 PM

p. simulans are exactly the same colour as neons, not green
those are p. innesi var.
p. simulans can be distinguished by their sickly colour when compared to neons, and their shape is horrendous

make up my mind? about what?
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make up your minds about how the Xray tetras are supposed to look like[]

Well Gan says they are Green Neons (actually they're blue), which is also a common name used by some websites to refer to P. simulans. Came across a pic once showing what is purported to be P. simulans, and also description from some other article, that P. simulans look like the Cardinal in that the red stretches through the belly as well (although the red is not very prominent), but that the neon stripe goes all the way to the caudal peduncle unlike the Cardinal.

I have a pic somewhere but first have to find out how to link it here. Then you tell me if it is actually the P. simulans.

Why do you say the shape is horrendous?

[DEA]

neons have a nice shape
p. simulans looks like battered neons

and why the x-ray tetra thing?
x-ray tetras only look 1 way

[DEA]

hmm
actually
i realised the body shape isn't a qualitative method to distinguish the 2 species
the neon stripe is more distinct

got a pic of urs?

[hwchoy]

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On 1/20/2002 9:55:10 PM

hmm
actually
i realised the body shape isn't a qualitative method to distinguish the 2 species
the neon stripe is more distinct

got a pic of urs?
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couldn't figure out how to stick a pic in here... I'll send a pic I got off the internet to you, purporting to be P. simulans.

as for the ones I have, I got them from Gan, what he calls Green Neon. The same ones Nature Aq uses in the Riccia carpet display (the one with just Riccia and a tree branch and a bunch of 100 green neon). If you went to Gan in the last month you must have seen them.

[DEA]

i didn't see them, because i wasn't interested in them [:]
email me with the pic and i'll put it up

[DEA]

should be
the neon stripe terminates at the tail
i'm wondering
what colour are neons normally?
are they different? or not green?
or is the name just marketing hype?

[hwchoy]

picture's on the way. BTW I took a look at P. innesi and it has similar neon stripe as Cardinal, ie the stripe ends before the caudal peduncle and the red extends into the caudal fin. The Green neon that Gan has is similar to the pic I sent you (the neon stripe and the red patch co-terminates), although they are somewhat more colourful than the pic.

[hwchoy]

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On 1/21/2002 1:03:00 AM

should be
the neon stripe terminates at the tail
i'm wondering
what colour are neons normally?
are they different? or not green?
or is the name just marketing hype?
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DEA, your fingers are too fast for me

Can I assume that Gan's green neon are the bona fide P. simulans?
To answer your questions: the neon stripes are blue with somewhat greenish tinge and no yellow, whereas I notice Cardinals and Neons would have flashes of yellowish green when they turn. On some specimens the red are very thin and merges with the blue to look purplish, while on some the reds can be quite broad. In all cases the neon and the red stop dead at the tail together.

Behaviourially, they tend to shoal separately, the green neon somewhat on a level higher than the Cardinals, nearer the surface. However this could be due to size difference, as my Cardinals are >3cm and the neons are no more than 1.5cm.

An article (belive from www.notcatfish.com) claimed that P. axelrodi and P. simulans are co-located species in the Rio Negro region while the P. innesi are found somewhere else (another river system NW from Rio Negro).

DEA, still don't get your point about their shape. They look the same like cardinals and neons to me []

[DEA]

heh, cos the one in my book looks like it's starving

[hwchoy]

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On 1/21/2002 1:28:04 AM

heh, cos the one in my book looks like it's starving
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well it's interesting to see the pic of the pair since one (left) does look kind of starved. Think the left one is male and the right one is female. The Cardinals are similar in that way. Not sure about P. innesi as I have not kept any.