Bispinosa Complex Question

[IndyM]

Hi guys. I came across the term "Bispinosa Complex" for the first time recently from a Glassbox post about true Hawaiian Flame angelfish. I've come across the Manonichthys complex in the past which includes m.splendens, m.alleni, m.jamali and some other species. But never the Bispinosa complex. This complex is composed of the :-

Flame
Coral Beauty
Rusty
Shepard's
Potter's

I'm curious to know what a "complex" means exactly with regards to fish. Does it mean a group of fish that are very closely related within a genus? How is a complex determined exactly? Any help is appreciated, very interested to know, thanks

 

[sevendigitcake]

i think it is fish in a species that are closely related. like the argi complex, has the brazilian and african flame back, argi, and respledens angelfish. they are all from the same region and look quite similar. im probably wrong but thats what i thought it was.

 

[Sheol]

Pretty close. I understand it to mean sibling species, such as argi. They may share a common ancestor, I mean.

Matthew