Geographic Variant Morphology in S. rhombeus

[JoeDizzleMPLS]

yeah, i totally get what you're saying diogenes, and i love seeing pictures of different rhoms, because there are some very unique ones out there... i guess what i am trying to say is that i think that the naming of different rhoms has gotten out of hand because people don't fully understand that these names are more to describe their physical appearance and not their collection points and even if you buy a guyana rhom, it may not be from guyana.... i know alot of other people that are serious about the hobby feel the same way.

i think that too much focus has been put on people trying to figure out where a rhom is from rather than just appreciating the fact that it is a unique and/or great looking fish. to be honest, i think we are just confusing alot of the new members of the hobby with all this information that isnt really all that accurate. when people post pictures of a rhom, i would much rather see people say, "wow that is a beatiful fish, i love the coloration" instead of a big debate ensuing between "experts" as to the collection point of the fish.

there is definitely a way to have this discussion, such as looking at pictures that george has posted, because he can say "i pulled this fish out of this location and i noticed that it had these markings" and we can discuss that, but i don't think we can correlate many of those findings to fish that are in our aquariums.

 

[Diogenes]

yeah, i totally get what you're saying diogenes, and i love seeing pictures of different rhoms, because there are some very unique ones out there... i guess what i am trying to say is that i think that the naming of different rhoms has gotten out of hand because people don't fully understand that these names are more to describe their physical appearance and not their collection points and even if you buy a guyana rhom, it may not be from guyana.... i know alot of other people that are serious about the hobby feel the same way.

i think that too much focus has been put on people trying to figure out where a rhom is from rather than just appreciating the fact that it is a unique and/or great looking fish. to be honest, i think we are just confusing alot of the new members of the hobby with all this information that isnt really all that accurate. when people post pictures of a rhom, i would much rather see people say, "wow that is a beatiful fish, i love the coloration" instead of a big debate ensuing between "experts" as to the collection point of the fish.

there is definitely a way to have this discussion, such as looking at pictures that george has posted, because he can say "i pulled this fish out of this location and i noticed that it had these markings" and we can discuss that, but i don't think we can correlate many of those findings to fish that are in our aquariums.

Alright yeah I totally see what you mean, and I agree. When I had no idea what my fish was I didn't really care (and still don't really) what it is. I like it. I think it's pretty, and I like to watch its behavior. It doesn't really matter what people call it. For me though, part of the fun of keeping fish is learning as much as you can about them. That's all I'm trying to do...learn as much as I can.

 

[SharkAquarium]

Just to confuse things a little bit more, and I don't know how to tell you this, BUT ALL OF THESE FISH ARE NOT S. RHOMBEUS. As a matter of fact, it is a generally accepted fact that S. rhombeus, as we know it, is a COMPLEX, made up of several, (different) species. But noone is prepared to undertakethe study necessary to split things up.

g

 

[Fishes33]

Now totally unrelated .....

Thats a wide black bar silver dollar... 12"+ (world biggest silver dollar)

I just gave my 6" away recently

 

[AquaScape]

Here's another Xingu Marble Rhom. Note in the last 2 pics the more elongated body; shaped more like a black bass.

This piranha is very interesting, Looks like an adult Gibbus to me,
Here are some pics of juvies.
When it first came in at 3"

At 5" notice the color change.

 

[Diogenes]

Hey aquascape, do you have any pics or wisdom to add to this thread?

 

[jp80911]

Yea Pedro, add share some wisdom here

 

[SharkAquarium]

I would agree with Pedro here that it is very possible these are the same fish. Whether S. gibbus is the correct name is another issue, but for hobbyist identification means, it's as good a name as any other.

 

[Diogenes]

I would agree with Pedro here that it is very possible these are the same fish. Whether S. gibbus is the correct name is another issue, but for hobbyist identification means, it's as good a name as any other.

wow interesting. There are some serious problems with the taxonomy of S. gibbus, most notably that the holotype has been lost. In case anybody wants to read up on this topic some more, here's a link:

http://www.opefe.com/gibbus.html

Thanks G!

 

[Trigga]

My 6" rhom from Bolivia... Check out the spotting even at this size.