I noticed in Greg's thread that there is no pictures of Rainbowfish from the Chilatherina Genus. Genus ??? Well there are a number of families of Rainbowfish that we have labeled as Genus. Most of Greg's bows are from the Melanotaenia Genus excluding the Millinium or it's Scientific name Glossolepis psuedoincisus. It belongs to the Glossolepis Genus. When you see a Scientific name on a Rainbowfish it will start with it's Genus name which should always be Capitalized. The next name will be the species name which will not be capitalized. For example Greg's Melanotaenia lacustris, or his Melanotaenia boesemani, or his Melanotaenia praecox. Sometimes you will see a third name which will indicate where the fish was collected.
Since Greg has not posted any pictures of fish from the Chilatherina Genus I thought I would add a couple.
First is the Chilatherina bleheri .... yes many of you are aware of this fish as it is more common in the hobby then the other species. Common and my favorite! You do see them sometimes in the LFS however this is a species where the female is not the most colorful and when she is stressed in the LFS she will probably have no color at all. So it is quite common to see tanks full of white females in the LFS that really never find a home. This is another reason why you do not see this fish often in the LFS as the owner of the LFS only makes money selling the males and has to .... well I am not going to say what they have to do with the left over females.
Pictured below is a male C. bleheri .... he is in nice shape, well looked after, feed well, with a tank full of females. I doubt if you will ever see one this nice in a LFS.
And here is a picture of a female C. bleheri and you will never see one with this much color in the LFS. Actually I took this picture of her because you don't see this much color on them. I think it is because she is ready to spawn!
Now what happens when it is spawning time and the male starts to display for the female!
All of a sudden a second male shows up and the two of them are displaying and sparring with each other for the female.
How often do I see this happening in my tank? Daily ..... the C. bleheri is a very prolific fish and very easy to breed. If you have one pair and feed it nothing but a good flake and or a quality pellet you may only see this once or twice a week. If you have two pairs and supplimented them with some frozen shrimp and a few bloodworms .... almost every day. Three pairs with lots of good live food ..... most of the day!
Another Chilatherina that was collected in 2005 by Gary Lange at Faowi Village is the Chilatherina fasciata "Faowi Village" This species is owned by many in Western and Eastern Canada .... actually I obtained my first one from a breeder in Eastern Canada.
A picture of the male .... I rather doubt if you would see this one in a local fish store and I don't have a picture of him in a relaxed state. This picture was taken shortly before spawning when he was just starting to realize the female was checking him out.
As you can see ... not much color in this girl either and yet she is showing about the most you will ever see in a female C. fasciata.
What happens to this fellow when he realizes it is time to spawn?
This is just a couple of examples of Rainbowfish when they are displaying for the female. It isn't much different with the other Genus of Rainbowfish as well. If you don't have a female in with your colorful male you will never see the best of him. Not to forget to mention that these fish are 2 to 3 years of age. When I first started to collect bows well over a decade ago, I collected only males, none of them lived much more then a year. Having a female is so important in having a nice tank of bows!
One last point with regards to the names of these fish. We spoke of the family of rainbows .... Genus .... the species .... and the location. Here is another picture of the Chilatherina fasciata .... however the location is "Pagai" rather then "Faowi Village"
Looks fairly similar to the C. fasciata "Foawi Village" ... in fact I was not even going to acquire it as I thought they were the same fish. DNA yes! However after owning the two of them for well over a year now.... they are different! Unfortunately it was collected it 2008 and I was the first in Canada to get this fish. I do have a request from a breeder down east to send him some eggs so I would think it should be down there soon.
Since Greg has not posted any pictures of fish from the Chilatherina Genus I thought I would add a couple.
First is the Chilatherina bleheri .... yes many of you are aware of this fish as it is more common in the hobby then the other species. Common and my favorite! You do see them sometimes in the LFS however this is a species where the female is not the most colorful and when she is stressed in the LFS she will probably have no color at all. So it is quite common to see tanks full of white females in the LFS that really never find a home. This is another reason why you do not see this fish often in the LFS as the owner of the LFS only makes money selling the males and has to .... well I am not going to say what they have to do with the left over females.
Pictured below is a male C. bleheri .... he is in nice shape, well looked after, feed well, with a tank full of females. I doubt if you will ever see one this nice in a LFS.
And here is a picture of a female C. bleheri and you will never see one with this much color in the LFS. Actually I took this picture of her because you don't see this much color on them. I think it is because she is ready to spawn!
Now what happens when it is spawning time and the male starts to display for the female!
All of a sudden a second male shows up and the two of them are displaying and sparring with each other for the female.
How often do I see this happening in my tank? Daily ..... the C. bleheri is a very prolific fish and very easy to breed. If you have one pair and feed it nothing but a good flake and or a quality pellet you may only see this once or twice a week. If you have two pairs and supplimented them with some frozen shrimp and a few bloodworms .... almost every day. Three pairs with lots of good live food ..... most of the day!
Another Chilatherina that was collected in 2005 by Gary Lange at Faowi Village is the Chilatherina fasciata "Faowi Village" This species is owned by many in Western and Eastern Canada .... actually I obtained my first one from a breeder in Eastern Canada.
A picture of the male .... I rather doubt if you would see this one in a local fish store and I don't have a picture of him in a relaxed state. This picture was taken shortly before spawning when he was just starting to realize the female was checking him out.
As you can see ... not much color in this girl either and yet she is showing about the most you will ever see in a female C. fasciata.
What happens to this fellow when he realizes it is time to spawn?
This is just a couple of examples of Rainbowfish when they are displaying for the female. It isn't much different with the other Genus of Rainbowfish as well. If you don't have a female in with your colorful male you will never see the best of him. Not to forget to mention that these fish are 2 to 3 years of age. When I first started to collect bows well over a decade ago, I collected only males, none of them lived much more then a year. Having a female is so important in having a nice tank of bows!
One last point with regards to the names of these fish. We spoke of the family of rainbows .... Genus .... the species .... and the location. Here is another picture of the Chilatherina fasciata .... however the location is "Pagai" rather then "Faowi Village"
Looks fairly similar to the C. fasciata "Foawi Village" ... in fact I was not even going to acquire it as I thought they were the same fish. DNA yes! However after owning the two of them for well over a year now.... they are different! Unfortunately it was collected it 2008 and I was the first in Canada to get this fish. I do have a request from a breeder down east to send him some eggs so I would think it should be down there soon.