Simpsonichthys notatus Alvorada do Norte

[stormhawk]

For Choy,

This was the last shot I managed to get of the male I passed you today. Its a shy fella and will not colour up that quickly. Be patient.



I hope the image (not very good) would give you a rough idea of how the colours should be.

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For general information, this is the last male in Singapore. I lost the female when I returned from a trip to Malacca. Didn't get any good eggs from them before she died.

[stormhawk]

Locality data is Alvorada do Norte, Goiás, Brazil.

[hwchoy]

JY, I'm getting quite a different colour. there are bars on the body and the fins have strong crimson.

[stormhawk]

The body does have bars and the fins do have a deep crimson to wine-red and brown colour. There's a pattern in the anal fin as well.

Try and get a full side profile shot. Its a nice little fella.

Here's a shot of a notatus male from the same population as the male I passed you. Taken by Alberto Reis and appears on the following URL:

http://www.geocities.com/megalebias

[hwchoy]

I note that both pix you shown have white trims and spots while mine is showing blue. I am speculating that both you and Alberto are using florescent light, whereas using flash it gives a more daylight-like spectrum with more blue?

[stormhawk]

Choy, its not a white trim, its a very light blue trim. It comes out as blue on my monitor and also the same for Alberto's image.

I used flash because the tank was in a dark spot and he was already staying still so some colours may not have come out right.

In true colours the trimming on the top dorsal edge and upper half of the caudal edge is a very light shimmering blue. The body is interspersed with light blue spots but the one key element of this species is the mid-body blotch that gave this species the name of notatus, which refers to that blotch.

[hwchoy]

mmm… it is appearing a very faint blue almost white on my LCD. will check it on the CRT as that is more calibrated than the lap top.

[TyroneGenade]

The angle of the light can also effect the colour of the fins. Depending how my Simp. whitei arch themselves into the light their dots appear blue or gold.

Just my 2c... anyone seeing my fish pics would know I have no idea what I'm talking about.

[stormhawk]

Choy, try to get as many side shots of this fella. One tip, the side with his head pointing towards the right of the picture looks better than the other.

The spot on that side is larger as compared to the other. He's beginning to grow the extensions to the dorsal and anal fins.

[stormhawk]

Hi Choy, any new shots of the fella yet? I hope he's settled in nicely. Would really love it if you could capture the shimmering scales around his cheek area.

[hwchoy]

not very cooperative. he's not too happy with the tank which is in a mess because the plants were all eaten by that Abramites hypselonotus!

shimmering cheeks? you mean like this…

[stormhawk]

Yes that's what I'm referring to. Nice shot of the fella. His colours are fast returning.

I think its time you "fried" that Abramites.

[hwchoy]

part of the problem, it seems, is this fish is obese. it appear to have some difficulties in swimming and the belly is casting a shadow such that the anal fin is not adequately lit.

also he doesn't seem to stay still long enough on the other side. he would keep rotating pass the parallel direction so most of the pix of that side shows the fins waving, not nice

[stormhawk]

He's pretty fat because he got loads of food since he shared his tank with other bachelor males. And yes, he's a very sluggish swimmer. I find this species to be very lethargic in comparison to other Simpsonichthys.

I can't do much except to say that he's well fed. He stays still long enough on the other side when its getting dark or so I've observed.

[hwchoy]

poor obese bugger, how do you expect him to impress the ladies?

[stormhawk]

Well, he doesn't have a girl to impress.