Dave Neely wrote:
> Tony,
>
> >Thanks for these and everyone's info. I have seen the breeding male >color
> >of the taillight only in Peterson's guide. In all other books I >read
> >there is no pic of bright red breeding male so I always wonder if >the fish
> >is really red. Next question: how many morph/races of >yellowfin and
> >greenhead shiner have been kept/bred by anyone here? I >have seen male of
> >the red fin morph color up to light pink/red all >over the body with loads
> >of tubercles on the head [especially the >forehead] and try to spawn with
> >the female. The color seems different >than red with yellow head and fins
> >seen on underwater pics in some >other fish books and magazines.
>
> "Morph"? Hmmph!
>
> Rob Wood and Rick Mayden (1992, Copeia, pp 68-81) looked at allozyme
> variation across the range of both N. chlorocephalus and N. lutipinnis, to
> test the purported "intergradation" between the two. Notropis chlorocephalus
> is a valid species, and what we currently recognize as N. lutipinnis is a
> paraphyletic complex of three diagnosable species. This is corroborated by
> nuptial coloration and pharyngeal dentition patterns- males from the
> Chattahoochee to Savannah drainages typically have red fins, Santee-Broad
> River fish have yellow fins, and Lynches Creek (Pee Dee) pops have white or
> yellowish fins. There was no evidence of intergression or intergradation
> whatsoever. Don't hold your breath for a species description... Rob's busy
> with Nothonotus and Rick is, well, busy on everything else except
> Hydrophlox. (Hey Bruce- here's your golden opportunity!! ;)
>
> Take the "New Testament" (Page and Burr 1994*) with a grain of salt- it's a
> good place to start, but there's a LOT of undescribed diversity out there.
> Anybody that tells you that the NA ichthyofauna is already taken care of is
> deluding themself.
>
> As for keeping them in aquaria, they do exceedingly well, eat flake food
> voraciously, and would probably be very easy to breed (mine are in a packed
> community tank- any eggs would get scarfed immediately). They maintain their
> color quite well...
>
> cheers,
> Dave
>
> * for those unfamiliar with the nomenclature, many NA ichthyologists refer
> to Lee et. al's (1980) Atlas of freshwater fishes as the "Old Testament."
> Only a small hint of irreverence is implied. ;)
>
> _____________________________________________
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