Parancistrus aurantiacus cool pics

[HaakonH]

Ok, I just had to link to these pics, because the sight is pretty awesome!





Kinda makes me think about the total value of those two boxes ;) Does all P.aurantiacus change their colour at some point in their lives? Or is it just the males? By the looks of the fish in the boxes it seems both sexes are represented...

-Haakon

[Richard B]

Very nice pics - pity these will be spread between fishkeepers (i think) - imagine all of them in a species/breeding set-up

[MatsP]

As far as I understand, they are constantly yellow in nature, and turn black when in captivity unless conditions are PERFECT (don't ask me what that means in terms of water parameters etc).

--
Mats

[sidguppy]

maybe it has something to do with it being a deepwater or extremely turbid water species; the presence of light will cause pigment to develop

maybe if you keep it perpetually dark or in water that is coffeelike in color, it'll stay pink.

[HaakonH]

Are they really always yellow in nature? Does this mean that the small specimens we usually come across in the trade had the time to switch from yellow to 100% grey during the time it took for them to go from being in the river to end up in an aquarium..? They must be changing colour really fast then! I don't have much knowledge about this particular issue, but I thought that only some individuals are yellow, and not all, even in nature? Wonder if it can have something to do with them reaching maturity and preparing to breed, and when this is disturbed and they feel less comfortable they lose their breeding dress...but if someone could document specimens that are obviously too small to be sexually mature and still yellow, that would prove me wrong

-Haakon

[Janne]

Are they really always yellow in nature? Does this mean that the small specimens we usually come across in the trade had the time to switch from yellow to 100% grey during the time it took for them to go from being in the river to end up in an aquarium..? They must be changing colour really fast then! I don't have much knowledge about this particular issue, but I thought that only some individuals are yellow, and not all, even in nature?

No, there are many blacks too in all sizes upp to 20-25 cm TL in nature, no one wants to buy them except the small sizes in black that is cheap. The smallest yellow I have seen are around 8-9 cm TL (they look sexual mature at this size), the market demand yellow (expensive) or black/yellow (cheaper) thats why no one see any large black Parancistrus aurantiacus in the shops if there not are an old yellow that turned black. They are caught in Rio araguaia which is a clearwater river and just little turbid due to human activities, not so deep either so it's totally dark.

Wonder if it can have something to do with them reaching maturity and preparing to breed, and when this is disturbed and they feel less comfortable they lose their breeding dress...

Yes I think soo, also out of breeding season almost none yellow is caught... the season is now when many plecos is breeding, just before the rain season ;)

Janne

[DJ-don]

wow all of these fish actually look like plastic to me