Here are 3 of the 6 fish. Each has a different color pattern on the tail. All of these patterns can be found on the CLOG page of C. iheringi, but of course, that would depend on those fish having been ID'd correctly to start with. And if there are cryptic species, then who knows what people have been sold in the past.
For two of the fish, I've typed characters which I think represent the color pattern, a 3 and a B with the hollows filled in. The 3 pattern was in the original description of M. iheringi. The other three fish which I received but I don't show here all have the "3" pattern on their tails.
Other variations in color pattern are:
- On the dark fishes, the brown/black color band on the caudal peduncle arcs forward and merges with the brown/black saddle below the adipose fin; but on the pale fishes, the two dark bands are clearly separate.
- On the two pale fishes, looking at the dark saddles under the dorsal fin, their anterior margin travels postero-ventrally, whereas in all my other fish, the anterior margine travels almost a direct vertical path.
- There are also dramatic differences in the coloration of the pectoral. pelvic and anal fins as well. The dark fish has bold flecked bands of color on the pectorals and anal, and some flecks on the pelvics, whereas the two pale fish shown here have either no color at all or very sparse, faint flecks in no organized line on these fins.
- The other thing which is odd is the dark base color on the smallest fish. I had read that the fish get darker with age, but my darkest fish are my smallest fish. Personally, I prefer the darker base color. Up close it reminds me of a fine horizontal wood grain.
Microglanis are certainly not "unspawned," but they aren't a commonly spawned fish, so I'm giving them a go.
Cheers, Eric
P.S., the photos are all magnified the same, so each fish is shown in proportionate scale. In all three photos, the field of view is 59 mm, from left to right.