Identifying F. gardneri gardneri

[LeonZA]

Hi everyone,

2 days ago I bought some "Steel blue killis" from a local pet shop. They couldn't tell me the species name or the population, BUT I decided to buy some anyway.

The males look exactly the same as my one Nsukka male, but when I look at pics of Lafia and Nsukka on the internet then they also look the same.

Is there any way to identify a gardneri or should I just keep them as F. gardneri gardneri "aquarium strain"?

[timebomb]

Pictures can be misleading. Other than catching them yourself, the only way to be sure your fish belongs to a particular population is to buy them from a reputed breeder. But then again, it's still not hundred percent reliable as even reputed breeders have been known to make mistakes.

Actually, no one has the right to tell you what you should call your fish but if you simply give a population to your fish based solely on pictures, it could turn out to be an embarrassment for you when people question your source.

My suggestion would be to stick with "aquarium strain". There's nothing wrong with this code actually. It's not like the fish becomes less valuable when it's "aquarium strain" and not some fancy "population code".

Loh K L