Who is she?

[cminghan]

please help me to find out who she is?

thank you

[erikthur]

First impression - it is probably a he...
But none I am sure of Imet before - sorry about that.
How come you don´t know what it is in the first place?

[RonWill]

Ming Han,
Going by the colors, I too, suspect it's a male and not a 'she' Notho. Could be a possibility of a 'butch' alpha female coloring up but I'm no scientist.

May I humbly suggest that you question the source from which you acquired the notho. The sender or seller would be the best person to ask and if that is not known, let's just keep things simple by calling it Nothobranchius 'Aquarium strain'.

You are not at liberty to tag species type or additional codes just by guesswork and image comparison alone.

Personally, if it's a nice fish to look at, I'd just keep it in my tanks and refrain from distributing it further. If I run out of tank space, give it away to hook another hobbyist to killie-keeping away. If not, flush it. I have done that many times in order to preserve the integrity of a collected population.

How come you don´t know what it is in the first place?

Good response, Erik. I saw that one coming.

[cminghan]

This fish was from a local fish shop, which they only name it as killie
i was suspected it was under the line of Nothobranchius Eggersi

[RonWill]

This fish was from a local fish shop, which they only name it as killie
i was suspected it was under the line of Nothobranchius Eggersi

Ming Han,
I think you're missing the issue that Erik and I am trying to point out.

When one cannot distinguish a 'he' from a 'she', and you have no definite response from the LFS's supplier, it is unwise to even attempt to tag the fish as an eggersi, regardless whether it's an educated guess or otherwise.

LFS are not always to be blamed for the lack of information since they're sometimes sold mismatched pairs, ie. a Notho male with a Simp female.

It is up to the serious hobbyists to try and educate the LFS. Work closely with them if you have to. If they insist on doing things their own way, I would personally avoid buying any killies from them, especially if one intends to breed them for sale later.

In my personal capacity, I stopped distributing any fish I'm unsure of and if I were you. I'd stop right here.

It is, of course, up to you to decide whether you're in the game to promote the hobby or to make the bucks. Whatever happens afterwhich, is your reputation as a killie-keeper, not mine.

Excuse me for being blunt but sometimes, the soft approach doesn't work.

[keehoe]

That is Notho. Rojak XYZ001. Close family of KingKong killie. Most likely due to cross breeding of Notho Egg and Notho Gue.

(Rojak is a type of salad consist mainly of mix fruit and prawn paste)

[stormhawk]

Hello Ming Han,

That is definitely a male notho and at first look is a Nothobranchius rubripinnis male. However it has characteristics of eggersi and I am afraid to say that it is a suspected hybrid between the eggersi and rubripinnis.

[keehoe]

Personally, if it's a nice fish to look at, I'd just keep it in my tanks and refrain from distributing it further. If I run out of tank space, give it away to hook another hobbyist to killie-keeping away. If not, flush it. I have done that many times in order to preserve the integrity of a collected population.

How come you don´t know what it is in the first place?

Good response, Erik. I saw that one coming.

Hi Ron, May i suggest in future if you happen to have fish that you would like to flush away, please give me. I can use some extra live fish bait. With their colouring, i am sure snakehead would have no problem spotting it.

[RonWill]

That is Notho. Rojak XYZ001. Close family of KingKong killie...

While I appreciate hobbyists' skewed sense of humor, it's more important to keep our postings relevant to the subject. Thanks.

Kee Hoe,
I have a small group of BITs, whose population I'm unsure of. If you want to use them as fish bait, it's yours. If you intend to keep them, then no. I'd rather not distribute them. What's your decision?

Ming Han,
It may appear that some of us are fanatical, anal perhaps, regarding population 'purity' but please understand that it has taken the serious hobbyist, alot of resource and effort to maintain what we now have in the SG Census and we're not prepared to flush all that effort down the drain.

Meanwhile, be conscientious in your efforts and I'm very sure you will be rewarded for it.

[keehoe]

Ron, BIT looks too skinny as bait. Those notho of minghan looks more juicy.

[littar]

Ron, if the LFS is able to positively identify the killies eg Notho Korthausae, but unable to name the collection location. Does it mean that the fish is also an 'aquarium strain'?

[RonWill]

Ron, if the LFS is able to positively identify the killies eg Notho Korthausae, but unable to name the collection location. Does it mean that the fish is also an 'aquarium strain'?

Technically speaking, yes.

Any killifish, not raised from breeding stock of a known lineage OR when the seller is unable to provide/confirm the 'population and/or collection codes', can be considered 'Aquarium Strain' (abbreviated to 'AS').

Let's further the example with the eggersi species from known populations in our Killie Census 2005
Nothobranchius eggersi Bagamoyo TZL 52/01
Nothobranchius eggersi Kilimani River TAN 02/15
Nothobranchius eggersi Rufiji River Camp TAN 95/7
Nothobranchius eggersi Ruhoi River TAN 95/11
Nothobranchius eggersi Ruhoi River TAN 98/12

Bred and maintained in species tank, subsequent generations can be safely distributed to the serious hobbyists to strengthen the gene pool of his or her stock.

All of the above are eggersi but a corruption, ie. any combination of the same species from different populations, will also disqualify the progeny of proper codes and ought to be termed 'AS'.

Littar, there isn't any bias against 'AS' killies. The serious and casual hobbyists each have different perceived values on the lineage. There is nothing against store-bought killies, for the LFS have made them easily available to the newcomer, albeit for the fact that most would sell only male specimens or worse, with mismatch females from another genus.

This forum encourages the keeping of killifishes and the friendly exchange of information, not to be misconstrued as a protest group against non-coded killifishes. What's important is that we enjoy what we buy and maintain.

I would, however, consider the following scenario to be unethical.

A hobbyist purchase an 'AS' male from the LFS and a 'coded' female from a killie-keeper, example, Nothobranchius eggersi Bagamoyo TZL 52/01.

The breeder spawns the pair, raise and sell the 'corrupted' progeny tagged as Bagamoyo TZL 52/01, when it should be sold as Nothobranchius eggersi 'Aquarium Strain' or just Nothobranchius eggersi. I'm in no position to question the breeder's integrity but caveat emptor, buyer beware.

Words can be misinterpreted and no offence is to be taken in my bluntness but I would really appreciate it if the more knowledgable killie-keepers can chip in to correct my understanding or further elaborate on the subject. Thanks.