Crenicichla sp. aff. regani

[aquaticclarity]

I only have one picture sent in advance of the fish arriving. It's a bad back it image but it shows a regani type female dwarf pike from the Rio Negro with 3+ dorsal ocelli AND several more ocelli in the very upper portion of the tail. I'll post my own pictures once the fish arrive but is anyone familiar with a dwarf pike that fits this description?

 

[Mike Wise]

I'm not a dwarf pike expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I from what I've read "C. regani" is probably not a single species, more like a superspecies. Different forms are found in virtually every major river system from the Madeira/Negro to the mouth of the Amazon. Dorsal spots can be variable in each population.

 

[gerald]

I had something like that in the late 80's -early 90's, picked up from Azalea Aquarium in Richmond, Virginia (i think they were $2.99 ea !!!). Females had several black spots in the dorsal fin ringed with narrow white and wide red bands. Male's dorsal spots were more blurry and surrounded by a white band - just a faint trace of pink/red. At least one of them also had some faint spots along upper edge of tail - i think it was a male. Sorry I dont have pix; didn't realize then they would be rare and exciting fish 20+ years later.

 

[dwarfpike]

I've not seen any thing lately that has ocelli in the tail, definitely not from that area. Does dorsal ocelli contain red or orange? I've not seen a regani from the Negro before. Noto's sure, and I can only assume possible wallacii since they are found in both the Rio Branco and the Orinoco basin so I would think it is possible for them to be in the connecting Negro, but I've never seen a wallacii with more than one dorsal spot unlike some regani populations and noto's and cf. orinoco dwarf.

It seems they are already splitting off at least one regani species, instead of Cr. regani 'Rio Xingu" they are now listed as Cr. sp. Rio Xingu. If anyone works on them, I am sure regani will be divided up as Mike suggested. I'm not holding my breath though, pikes in general don't seem to gather much attention from scientists.

Strangely, I've not seen the classic regani (the irregular, melded dorsal spots) in almost ten years now. Most are the Rio Tapajos variety. I assumed the restrictions on Brazilian exports were the main reason.

I'd love to see shots of the fish once they arrive!

 

[dwarfpike]

Bah, meant to edit not quote. Teach me to post before second mug of coffee.

 

[aquaticclarity]

BAD picture but black and white in the dorsal and partially joined and black, white, and a hint of red in the tail, also partially joined.

 

[dwarfpike]

The fish with the most red in the tail I've seen was what we thought was the Rio Branco wallacii ... here's the link from a google search of the fish (not my picture, this came up on a google image search): http://s4.photobucket.com/user/minerals22/media/021.jpg.html

 

[aquaticclarity]

Just got the likes. The picture you linked is darn close! The amount of red in the tail ocelli is outstanding! I'll get some pics taken and posted tonight. I think I got in 4 pair.

 

[aquaticclarity]

Pictures taken a few hours after arrival.

 

[dwarfpike]

Hmmmmm ... the male does look like Cr. wallacii to me (Guyana/Rio Branco not the more recently common Colombians). I tried to re-find a picture I saved several years back, but I couldn't. The coloring and the pattern in the dorsal and anal fin is quite distinctive. I don't really want to repost it since I can't give it the proper credit, but I did have it uploaded to my own photobucket so I'll post the link here -> http://i312.photobucket.com/albums/ll355/dwarfpike/wallacii-male.jpg

The female looks very similar (especially the tail fin pattern) to the female Cr. wallacii from the Rio Branco on Jens Gottwald's pike site: http://www.crenicichla.net/ with one major exception ... no dorsal ocelli. While the Colombian race always seems to have it, the Guyanan race doesn't, Wayne Leibel had an article back in the 90's that said the Guyana race doesn't show ocelli, but the Rio Branco's can (but not always) ... He reiterated the same thing in an email a few years back as well. I've not managed to track down a pic of one of the Rio Branco's with it though, so I do not know what color ocelli it would be. The Colombian's seem to start white and fade to an orange-ish color in my experience as they age. I wasn't sure if we would see the Rio Branco's in the hobby once Brazil curtailed their exports.

The only dwarf I've seen pics of with a that much white in the tail is a Cr. urosema from the Rio Xingu, but it's a solid white band and not spotting.

Due to the site lay out, I can't give the link to the girl in question there but someone on the CRC site linked it directly into my thread on the Cr. sp. Irinida dwarf so I shall link that. http://www.crenicichla.net/art/steckbriefe/bilder/crenicichla_cf_wallacei_rio_branco_1.jpg

There isn't a lot on dwarf pikes out there, and even fewer pics (and even fewer crazies that like the silly little things) ... but given the pics and the location my tentative guess would be the Rio Branco wallacii.

 

[dwarfpike]

I knew I was forgetting one other dwarf with the white spots in the tail ... Vinny Kutty's Bolivian Citrus dwaves ... http://www.reocities.com/NapaValley/5491/citruspike.html

 

[aquaticclarity]

From the Rio Negro. Trying to get more info then that but I might not be able too.

 

[aquaticclarity]

Oliver Lucanus suggested it might be C. regani from the Rio Branco. I won't add a location name like that until it would be confirmed from the exporter of course.

 

[dwarfpike]

Understandable. I was giving my best guess, since I've never seen/read about a regani being found in the Rio Negro before. Noto's seem to have them beat out there.

 

[aquaticclarity]

Here is a better picture of the dominate female in the tank of 4pr. These guys are doing very well on frozen silver sides a few times a week and baby brine shrimp. Now to fatten up the next batch of pikes and get an ID, they came in as cf. notophalmus (no location again).

 

[dwarfpike]

She's a beauty for sure.

Part of the fun (and most of the frustration) comes from ID'ing the little buggers.