Ignitus or dispar anthias?

[stanlalee]

They were labelled dispar but I think they are ignitus. Can anyone (SDguy ect) confirm which. And sex as well. One is pinker (you cant tell in all the picks but some you can) and has a definate pink forehead while the other is more orange everywhere. Is one changing to male? Dorsal fin doesn't help because a) they never display unless they yawn and b) they both have big dorsal fins when they do. they stick together like glue but I did catch them displaying at each other ONCE. thanks.

 

[Dante_JoseCuerv]

Maybe it's just me, but I'm seeing both species in there.

 

[stanlalee]

thanks for the input. could be but what exactly are the color differences suppose to be? the dorsal and tail fins both have the same coloring, around the eyes the same coloring. Only real difference I can tell is one is pink and one is more orange. Is there suppose to be any difference besides color anyway? the behave, eat ect exactly alike.

 

[smoothdog]

They are Ignitus. The yellow on the lower back of the dorsal fin is the dead give away. I've heard from a couple of my LFS that the ignitus are sold by wholesalers as dispars so if the LFS doesn't pay attention they just get sold as such to consumers.

 

[SDguy]

Ignitus. Purple eye, red "forked" appearance to the tail, and as mentioned, yellow lower half of the back end of the dorsal fin are all good clues.

 

[stanlalee]

thanks! what about the sex? is the more orange one female?

 

[SDguy]

Actually, I think the more orange ones are male, but I'm not really sure...

 

[CorkPullerPHL]

They are beautiful specimens. Good luck with them.

 

[smoothdog]

thanks! what about the sex? is the more orange one female?

There is no color change in the male but his colors will be more intense. He will also likely hold his dorsal fin erect, and I agree with CorkPullerPHL, that is a beautiful pair. Hope they do well for you.

 

[stanlalee]

thanks all. they are eating, out and about and not getting picked on so far (been two weeks). I watched them at the LFS for over a month before getting them. I really wanted a Lyretail (have kept them long term before) or bartlett due to their relatively hardyness/boldness (for an anthias). I only got these because I couldn't find those locally and didn't want to pay $35 shipping on $30-50 fish (and these were $20ea). they arent nearly as skiddish or reluctant as I anticipated.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

two related threads with some great pix:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1074699&highlight=ignitus

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=990441&highlight=ignitus