Dario hysginon and Dario sp.

**valice** · 10th Sep 2006, 02:43

Originally Posted by hwchoy

vincent, your fish has a bump on the head, just like my fish #3, compared to fish #1 which has a smoothly curved head profile.

Yah..My fish seems to be more like your 3rd fish... So this is not Dario hyginon?

**hwchoy** · 10th Sep 2006, 02:52

Originally Posted by valice

Yah..My fish seems to be more like your 3rd fish... So this is not Dario hyginon?

not sure, its one or other other

**Quixotic** · 11th Sep 2006, 15:28

Originally Posted by hwchoy

... no, the second fish was actually pictured as a "morph" of D. hysginon it its description paper...

Choy, can I have the D. hysginon paper pretty please? Thanks... quixotic68 at yahoo.com.sg

Originally Posted by jungle-mania

Actually, I have tried and with success with a nano tank, feeding my dario dario (4 in all) with oceanfree XO super colour. They seem to love it. Unfortunately, this is only successful as I have them with a pair of clown killies and cherry shrimps, so there is no real competition for food.

Hmmm... that is most interesting. I have had different batches of D. dario throughout and they never touch dry food stuff. I know some of them do nibble at them when new in the tank but eventually waste away because they refuse them in the long run. How long have you had them?

**valice** · 11th Sep 2006, 15:34

actually, i found that my Dario sp is eating tetrabits that is left floating in the tank... Because the food goes missing after a day... Unless the two green shrimps in the tank ate them...

**Quixotic** · 11th Sep 2006, 15:42

Don't mean to be doubtful.. hehehe... but I have them alone before without any other inhabitants and dry food is mostly uneaten.

If there are other inhabitants, my view is that if you do not see them take it in their mouth and literally eat them, then I think other inhabitants may be the ones.

But then, I do know of some reports that they do take dry food but very rarely so. Maybe it's my batches that are not trained well enough. *shrug*

**valice** · 11th Sep 2006, 15:48

Does frozen foods considered as live? Mine eats frozen bloodworms with ferocity... Snapped right out of my pincers...

**Quixotic** · 11th Sep 2006, 15:52

Yes, frozen or live but not dry ones from my experience. These guys can gobble up huge sized frozen bloodworms and I mean huge!

**stormhawk** · 11th Sep 2006, 17:33

Originally Posted by Jungle-mania

Actually, I have tried and with success with a nano tank, feeding my dario dario (4 in all) with oceanfree XO super colour. They seem to love it. Unfortunately, this is only successful as I have them with a pair of clown killies and cherry shrimps, so there is no real competition for food.

That's interesting. Most of the time the Dario will "learn" from seeing their tankmates feed on these pellets. Some will adapt to sinking pellets, but most usually ignore them. You're quite lucky that your Dario are feeding on the dry food.

valice, yours are hysginon, if they have that wine red body and the black dot on the front edge of the dorsal fin. Don't worry so much.

The bump thing can be seen in some specimens of Dario dario. Even then among tank-bred Dario dario, the head profile can differ in some particular specimens. I have no idea if this is an issue involving genetics for Dario dario at least. Perhaps the "bump" on those "D. hysginon" might signify as a sexual trait, in which the males develop the "hump" on their foreheads. Then again that's just a guess and since those 2 forms were mixed into a single shipment, getting the right females for the males will be a tough job. Without the females to compare with, the bump thing seems like a moot point to me, at least for now.

**stormhawk** · 11th Sep 2006, 17:36

Originally Posted by Quixotic

Yes, frozen or live but not dry ones from my experience. These guys can gobble up huge sized frozen bloodworms and I mean huge!

Quixotic, that's another interesting point. But an article in a recent issue of TFH by 2 people who bred Dario dario, mentioned that sometimes these little fish will choke on oversized food pieces. It would be wise to feed them with smaller food pieces.

I don't like to use frozen foods because they spoil quickly even when under cold storage conditions. Plus, frozen foods tend to lose their nutritional value very quickly. At this point of time I will only recommend the use of live foods, or sinking foods with an attractant. Sera O-Nip proved to be a favourite nibbling snack for some of my Dario in the past, but my results may differ.

If your fishes still love those huge frozen bloodworms, then you're fine.

Oh yes, you're in BB West, or East? I'm living in BB West.

**hwchoy** · 11th Sep 2006, 17:38

that bump head came out rather consistent in the mixed shipment. the photograph in the description clearly shows the bump. and a few of us who took specimens from Azmi's shpiment also show consistent "bump" and "bumpless" traits.

so far of my three specimens, only the one with "bump" also exhibits the extended first dorsal fin "lappet" as described in the paper. The other two fish (the banded one and the "red with no bump" has a smooth dorsal profile. all of them have the black spot on the dorsal fin.

**hwchoy** · 11th Sep 2006, 17:39

Originally Posted by valice

Yah..My fish seems to be more like your 3rd fish... So this is not Dario hyginon?

based on what I'm seeing in the paper, appears to be D. hysginon.

**hwchoy** · 11th Sep 2006, 17:41

here's the link to the paper, and the repost of discussion in petfrd

stefan and vincent, I looked at the paper on D. hysginon, the photogrpah (including the big one on the cover itself) clearly shows a fish with a "bump" head. It seem my Fish 2 is a male D. hysginon and that Fish 1 must be a dominant male Dario sp. 'Myanmar' (we can discuss what to label this fish!!!) and Fish 3 could be a female or regular male 'Myanmar'.

here's a link to the pages on Dario hysginon http://www.hexazona.com/images/misce...20hysginon.pdf

I went to check because I notice my Fish 3 has faint black mottling on the head. I have removed the dominant male, let's see what will happen.

for easy reference here are my three fishes again:

Fish 1 - dominant male Dario sp. 'Myanmar'

Fish 2 - male Dario hysginon

Fish 3 - sub-dominant male or female Dario sp. 'Myanmar'

**stormhawk** · 11th Sep 2006, 17:59

Thank you for the link Choy. Have not logged on to Petfrds.com for ages now.

I think I have that description in my PC somewhere but its in black and white. You happen to have the actual full description scanned in colour?

If D. sp "Myanmar" just happens to be a morph of hysginon, no matter since that bugger is so much more good looking that hysginon. It'll be great if it turns out to be a new species altogether.

For what it's worth, your Fish 3 is probably a subdominant male. Female Dario do not seem to have any tinge of colours in their fins. On the flanks, perhaps, but not the fins.

**hwchoy** · 11th Sep 2006, 18:23

I believe it is a different species. they are different enough to be noted, only two out of 700+ specimens. Read the paper those two are specifically mentioned (NRM44002 and 3 I think).

The full colour scan is 150MB that's why I only extracted these pages.

**stormhawk** · 11th Sep 2006, 21:52

I too believe that they are a new species. They don't seem to be a morph to me, at least for now. The fact that the dominant male sp. "Myanmar" seems to have a mottled head and that black pigment in the head region just makes it special. Plus the bands are clearly defined, unlike those on the hysginon, which seem to just fade and become a wine red body colour.

150MB is a HUGE file. No wonder you didn't put it up for a download. If its possible, could you extract the part for dayingensis as well?

**hwchoy** · 11th Sep 2006, 23:11

the male Dario sp. 'Myanmar' normally have a more maroon colour to the band, this really crimson coloration is when it is really pissed (as you can see from the background fish on the left).

**stormhawk** · 11th Sep 2006, 23:21

Hehe, not surprising. The same applies to Dario dario too. But a beautiful picture nonetheless. You captured the beauty of the male sp. "Myanmar".

**hwchoy** · 11th Sep 2006, 23:28

I was lucky, this crimson colour is a flash only, probably around 2-3 seconds. and the tank was damn dim man, I detect a reddening when I happen to have the fish framed in the viewfinder and on focus, so SNAP!!! damn lucky.

**stormhawk** · 11th Sep 2006, 23:34

Well you definitely got it lucky alright. I thought of visiting the Great Hall of Azmi, but its pretty far away from where I live.. so nope. Not for now. I was hoping that Ben might have it, but he doesn't. Oh well, some other time perhaps.