Mis-ID on A. chrysopterus

[WDLV]

It has just come to my attention that chrysopterus and latifasciatus are frequently mis-identified. I was told when I got mine from LA.com that mine were A. chrysopterus. After taking a look at Fautin and Allen's field guide it has occured to me that mine is latifasciatus. It seems a lot of people are misidentifying these (including me) as being two varieties of A. chrysopterus. One with a yellow tail and one with a white tail.
I'm re-educating myself and trying to do the same for anyone I've told wrong or has been told wrong by others.

 

[criccio]

http://wish.wodonga.tafe.edu.au/~kwaldon/chp.htm

http://wish.wodonga.tafe.edu.au/~kwaldon/lati.htm

Different regions, different physical characteristics, different species. LA's chrys come from Fiji, not Africa. Nice chrysopterus.

 

[LargeAngels]

Yup. Nice pair, but not latifasciatus.

 

[WDLV]

I have two sources that say otherwise. Both Wilkerson's book and Fautin and Allen's book have photographs that back up my statement. Show me a photograph from a reputable source taken in the wild and I'll consider a yellow tail chrysopterus to be a possibility.

Drawings and Aquarium photos really prove nothing but possession and characteristics. They do not prove origin. A retailer can never be 100% sure. They have to go on what the wholesalers tell them.

 

[Amphiprion]

Here are a couple of yellow tailed specimens photographed by
J. E. Randall:

http://filaman.ifm-geomar.de/Photos/ThumbnailsSummary.php?ID=4551

 

[criccio]

Going off memory, doesn't Wilkerson's book have a few pics of yellow tailed chrys, and go on to say latifs are a rarity in the hobby.

 

[LargeAngels]

latifs are beyond rare. Consider their location and the logistics and cost to get the fish here.

Are you saying you didn't believe there was any yellow tail Chrysotperus?

 

[WDLV]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9763666#post9763666 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by LargeAngels
latifs are beyond rare. Consider their location and the logistics and cost to get the fish here.

Are you saying you didn't believe there was any yellow tail Chrysotperus?

What I'm saying is that I didn't see any yellow tailed chrysopterus in either book. I'm not saying it's not there. Having looked through Fautin and Allen's book last night and subsequently scanning through Wilkerson's book this morning, it occured to me that I was likely to have been wrong about the identity of these fish and/or misinformed as the case may be. Either way, I had the information sitting at my fingertips and just assumed that what I had been told in the past was right without first researching the facts. I hate to be wrong as much as the next guy, but given the sources (Gerald Allen in particular) I feel that I was wrong about there being a yellow tailed version and a white tailed version. There seems to be only one and it has a white tail.
If you look at the description in either text there is no yellow tailed version.
This hit me when I went to look at the picure of latif last night I realized for the first time that the bottom picture was labeled as a leucokranos/chrysopterus hybrid. Not as a latif. The top picture, though small looked exactly like my fish. I went to the field guide section and there was no mention of a yellow tail chrysopterus.

If someone finds a photo in either book of a yellow tailed chrysopterus please point out the page number. Like I said... I only scanned over Wilkerson's book this morning.

 

[WDLV]

Amphiprion,
I appreciate the link. The one shot of a yellow tailed fish taken in the wild was by Bob Fenner. Who runs and categorized the Fish Base? Where was the photo taken?

 

[Amphiprion]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9764189#post9764189 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by WetSleeves
Amphiprion,
I appreciate the link. The one shot of a yellow tailed fish taken in the wild was by Bob Fenner. Who runs and categorized the Fish Base? Where was the photo taken?

I don't know who organizes it, honestly, but they do have a rather long board that reviews everything. I was actually referring to the preserved paratype specimens, though much of the original color is lost. Their tails aren't white--just showing an example of exceptions. Honestly, I don't always trust Robert Fenner's IDs (not discrediting him, but he is not an ichthyologist). If you would like more pics, check out Dr. Randall's own web site. I bet you will find more there. Oh, and if a location is described, you will find it by clicking on the picture and scrolling down underneath. Fenner's has no description of location.

 

[LargeAngels]

Page 128 of Fautin is a pair of non-white tail chrysopterus.

Page 77 of Wilkerson is a non-white tail chrysopterus.

Page 52 of Wilkerson, labeled as orange fin.

Chrysopterus tail colors can be white, or orange/yellow or white and yellow mixed, as seen in one of mine below. I have another one that is white/yellow mixed also, just no picture yet.

Most of the ones that come in orange change to yellow overtime.

 

[WDLV]

Guys, I'm not trying to be a PITA about this. I realize that this information is the general concensus. It occured to me last night that my observation was plausable. It would not be the first time that a taxonomic blunder had occured.

It is entirely possible that the range is larger than we know. But the availability of Madagascar imports is probably the best argument I've heard or seen so far.

If I'm wrong, that's OK, but I want definitive proof (as defined above) so I can have a better idea of where the yellow tailed version occur in nature. I'm sure someone will be happy to prove me wrong by nightfall.

 

[WDLV]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9764897#post9764897 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by LargeAngels
Page 128 of Fautin is a pair of non-white tail chrysopterus.

Page 77 of Wilkerson is a non-white tail chrysopterus.

Page 52 of Wilkerson, labeled as orange fin.

Chrysopterus tail colors can be white, or orange/yellow or white and yellow mixed, as seen in one of mine below. I have another one that is white/yellow mixed also, just no picture yet.

Most of the ones that come in orange change to yellow overtime.

I appreciate your post. I will have to review my books tonight to verify this for myself.

For the record....
I STAND CORRECTED.

 

[LargeAngels]

Page 128 and 77 are labeled as Chrysopterus. Right there in the books.