Chic you have become quite the go to guy regarding this family of fish.
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Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
On the problem of identifying African Tiger fish and the mythical Black Goliath.
- Thread starter Chicxulub
- Start date
Not sure if most of the vittatus in the US are from the Zambezi but ocean state aquatics had recent ones that might have been from there.
At 6 inches it was already showing great coloration
At 6 inches it was already showing great coloration
I'm just trying to give something back to the community that brought the existence of these things to my attention.
I'm quite certain they have been. Some VATF have slightly larger jaws and higher contrast in their tails than the 'normal' Congo population. I am utterly convinced that these are the Zambezi fish for the simple reason that they look just like them. For an example, compare the little one in the in-the-aquarium picture at the bottom of the first page to the adult male VATF in the adult comparison with the tanzaniae.
They aren't brought in as often for sure, but I believe that they are brought in. The reason we haven't been seeing as many true VATF coming for sale in the past year is the same reason why there's been pretty much no new GATF popping up: the Congo isn't allowing exports right now because of the political strife.
As a matter of fact, I recently bought a VATF that I believe to be a Zambezi fish. Here's a cool picture that I snapped out of pure luck tonight. On the whole its a terrible picture, but it shows the difference and the similarity of the TATF and Zambezi VATF at the same time. They look identical when I look at each of them by themself, but in this picture the differences are quite obvious I feel. The TATF dominates the VATF and that keeps the poor guy from showing colors well. When I first got him his tail was much more yellow.
So we can assume an African tiger fish with very vibrant colors and pronounced stripes as a Zambezi Vittatus?
All Zambezi Vittatus?
All Zambezi Vittatus?
1- Heavily photoshopped but probably not. Look at the shape,
2- Almost certainly
3- Probably.
I'm hesitant to make a definitive conclusion of "yes, that fish is from the Zambezi" when there is quite a bit of variation even within populations. I will say "yes, in my opinion that fish is probably from the Zambezi", but I don't want anyone to take it as anything but just that, my opinion. I think the easiest way to pick out a Zambezi Vittatus Tiger Fish (ZVTF from here out) is to find one that is morphologically very similar to a TATF. There's always the chance we could see a vittatus that is a ZVTF that just happens to not have good color. We know Congo vittatus (CVTF) look like a football, but I've noticed that ZVTF are built like a tanzaniae. Compare the build of the ones you posted to this tanzaniae:
And to this fish, West1's verified CVTF. This fish has wonderful colors too, but the body shape is quite different from the ZVTF you posted.
What I DO know is this:
-ZVTF have a TATF like build
-ALL ZVTF will have a dark red core to their tail.
-Male ZVTF have yellow markings around the dark red core
-Female ZVTF have orange or bright red around the dark red core
-ZVTF often have 'tipped fins' like TATF do
-There is no evidence of CVTF being sexually dimorphic
-CVTF will NORMALLY have red tails, but orange or yellow is possible.
Congrats on the sticky. Very interesting read. For sure when my master plan goes through I will want to get at the very least a GATF for my master tank. I'll make sure to come to you for more info. 
Very interesting read. For sure when my master plan goes through I will want to get at the very least a GATF for my master tank. I'll make sure to come to you for more info. 
