tang pairs?

[cl2ysta1]

our LFS brought in a couple of scopas tangs that were labeled as "paired". The owner ended up keeping them in their tank. one is darker than the other and they hang out together and never leave each others side. Pretty cool

 

[jmaneyapanda]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14226173#post14226173 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by scchase
I 100% assure you the patch is the difference between males and females can't remember which journal I read it in but its out there somewhere (may have been something from the Nancy Aquarium) , as to pairs I agree with you they are just compatible though being different sex I would assume helps. They don't as far as I know naturally occur in pairs.

I would love to read that paper, if you could please locate it. I am a skeptic at heart, and find it very difficult to accept a "100% assurance" with no proof or basis. As far as Im concerned, the only legitimate way to determine this would be to necropsy the animal to locate sexual organs, or to witness spawning which produces viable offspring. If it was the nacy Aquarium, I would like to see their logic and proof of this patch being the dimorphic identification.

Assuming that two animals together is a male and female pair is quite flawed, though. There are countless aniamls which do not pair up, even at breeding times, and even more countless animals that pair up as same sex pairs, for whatever reason. It is a faulty assumption to perceieve that two animals together are male and female.

The lack of presenec of wild pairs even further negates this claim. True, that fish in the aquarium can display behaviors not seen in the wild (ie- clownfish juveniles "balling"), but monogamous pairing is extermely unlikely, IMO.

 

[SDguy]

I've always thought that when two fish are always swimming around side by side together they are actually sizing each other up...it's more aggression than pairing. It may never lead to any visible aggression, but it's not because they "like" each other so much that they need to be next to each other all the time. Just another thought to throw out there....

 

[jmaneyapanda]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14229755#post14229755 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SDguy
I've always thought that when two fish are always swimming around side by side together they are actually sizing each other up...it's more aggression than pairing. It may never lead to any visible aggression, but it's not because they "like" each other so much that they need to be next to each other all the time. Just another thought to throw out there....

Agreed. Kepp your friends close, but your enemies closer.