Chromaphyosemion splendopleure - Australian aquarium strain

[KillieOrCory]

Hi Ron and all,

At last I managed to take some substandard pics of my now grown splendopleure. This is how the males look like:


adult in bright tank


adult in dark tank

So which population do you think these fish resemble? Abviously we'll continue to call these Aquarium Strain regardless.

[RonWill]

So which population do you think these fish resemble?

A guesstimate, ya? How about this?



Abviously

[KillieOrCory]

Hey Ronnie, don't make fun of my typo!!! Though A and O are a bit far away on the keyboard so... I have no idea what I was thinking

It does look like Moliwe. Whatever it might be I think it is very attractive. I got 5 males and 3 females. The pics are of two different males from two different tanks. I have them spread around 3 tanks to reduce risk of accidentally loosing the species!

A question: What sets splendopleure and biteniatum apart? I was thinking my fish also resemble BIT "Ijebu Ode'

[RonWill]

... I have no idea what I was thinking

It's not you. The keyboard needs to be fixed

A question: What sets splendopleure and biteniatum apart?

That's a good one and also an issue that bugged me for the longest time.

If Tyrone is still with us, he may be able to elaborate further because it was him who highlighted the occurence of yellow tips in SPP than in BIT, which are more of a 'solid pattern'. I'll have to dig around for that thread though. FWIW, I still think the Moliwe looks more like a BIT.

Your SPP, if it is one, does resemble the BIT "Ijebu Ode' too. This example alone is reason enough, why one shouldn't tag a population to the fish, just because it compares well with a photograph.


Because some populations are strikingly similar, I'm slowly cutting back to avoid accidental corruption. However, that doesn't mean I won't go shopping on Aquabid once the weather cools off again