White Cheek Tang, Possibly Hybrid?? ID

[bradleym]

I have a tang in my QT that appears to be a white cheek tang, but it was suggested that it may be a hybrid of that and another species. This came into question specifically due to the lighter coloration and the amount of yellow in the fins. Please watch this video, and tell me if you think it's a hybrid or just juvenile coloring. And if hybrid, what is the second species? Thanks in advance!

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/l6B6s6c-RlQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[Ostara]

Oops, I forgot to check back on your other thread! He's cute. Twitchy little fellow, isn't he?

I keep watching the video and going back and forth on what I think. On one hand, he's definitely young and is showing some stress. And on the other, his coloring is interesting. Paler grey than I've seen, with a less prominent gold rim (or at least it appears so in the video) but yellow in the fins. I've been combing through a lot of pictures of them but haven't seen a non-hybrid with such a light grey or with yellow extending to the top of the dorsal like that. There are, however, a LOT of pictures of A. nigricans and A. achilles/leucosternon/japonicus (especially japonicus) hybrids, so they're not terribly uncommon. I guess I'm going with "it's a possibility, wait and see as he gets older and settles in."

I did discover several sites using hybrid pictures for A. nigricans. (Such as here and here.) Those both appear to be leucosternon hybrids. I guess confusion isn't uncommon with fish that breed so... freely. :lmao:

 

[robs.mark]

I think you need to wait untill he settles in a bit and his colour develops. Beautiful fish either way..

 

[bradleym]

Thanks for comments. Ostara, yea he is alll go, but likes to show off when I'm not around. That video was taken by starting the camera and walking away. Literally the SECOND I walked away, he came over to the camera and danced like that. Now if he's "twitchy" when noone's watching, imagine what he's like when I'm there stressing him out. Video is my ONLY option!

I found a video on youtube labeled "hawaii gold rim tang juvi" that looks like mine, so if their info is accurate, it may not be a hybrid. I'll keep an eye on it and see how it turns out.

 

[bradleym]

Day 13, he's starting to come to me for food pretty confidently, and although he still flashes the colors shown in the video, he spends most of his time looking like this now:

So I guess I know what he's going to grow up to be now.

 

[SDguy]

What, and how often are you feeding? He's still looking a bit skinny, but if he's eating well, should be fine.

 

[bradleym]

SDguy,

Sorry, the comment about eating was in reference to what I had said in another thread. He was really nervous at first, and I couldn't photograph him because he would even run when I fed him (in between bites). That's why I used a video in the first post. There's no way that would've made sense though, since that was a different thread.

No worries, he eats like a pig on 3 different food types every day.

 

[SDguy]

If he eats pellets or flakes, I'd make that the staple of his diet. IME these types of food have the most calories/nutrition by weight, and will fatten up a tang quickly.

 

[bradleym]

Yea, he eats pellets at least twice a day, mysis once a day, and has a nori sheet at all times. His diet is pretty acceptable IMO.

 

[SDguy]

Yea, he eats pellets at least twice a day,

Perfect.