Well, as of this morning, Nabaldashnik is no more. An unpleasant surprise.
As I said, I was given this pbass by Joe of Joefish Aquatics, Ft. Myers, FL last summer at ~3". Joe thought it could have been wild caught in FL but we can't be sure at all. A customer brought it in to Joe's.
In this thread, Kendragon ID'ed it as a hybrid / farmie.
It has grown very well and reached ~12" in Jan 2017 and his last measurement July 10, 2017 is 19". So, ~16" in ~12 months - is that normal? My orinos, azuls, and temensis seem to grow 2x-3x slower, some even slower.
It has taken to catfish farm pellets quickly and then learned to take thawed fish occasionally, especially when it went from 240 gal to 4500 gal. I did note how Nabaldashnik would challenge other pbass by puffing up its gills and intensifying its colors. Never fighting, just display.
I kind of noted it had stopped feeding or feeding well not long ago at all, about 1-2 weeks ago. Didn't think much of it. When I cut it up, I didn't find anything obvious.
Except maybe I was surprised to almost not find any blood. That was striking.
What's up with that?? The internal organs seemed small for the fish size. The abdominal cavity had a LOT of free room.