Fish ID: Jurupari, Leucostica...?

[mitsukuni]

Don't think I can say the name of the store, but they have two large showtanks in their west wall. In the farthest one to the left, they have two large geophagines, along with a huge heckeli and a few others... (they're not for sale)

My question is, has anybody else seen them, and what would you classify them as? An employee thought they were Jurupari, but I'm not sure. They have a lot of bright spangling on them, but maybe its just a product of their age that they don't look to me like Jurupari... anybody else seen them, and care to comment? They're beautiful fish, and if I could be sure of what they were I'd get a few younger ones to grow out in what's turning into my geo-juvie-grow-op. :shifty:

Phil

[Nandopsis]

The spangling on their face, was it in the shape of dots or more like lines?

[RD.]

juvie Satanoperca jurupari

juvie Satanoperca leucosticta

S. leucosticta are sometimes sold as jurupari, but IMO are a far more attractive fish.

The most distinguishing physical trait between the two species is the S. leucosticta get bright blue spangling on their face & gill plates, where the jurupari do not.

[mitsukuni]

The spangling on their face, was it in the shape of dots or more like lines?

Jay, there were dots on the face, extending back over the operculum, and along the fishes' sides... I guess that should have clued me in: my bro-in-law has an older jurupari, and it looks nothing like these guys. And yeah, now that you mention it, his jurupari does have lines along the face...

RD, I think the second pic you posted is the fish:

I've seen leucostica for sale, but never as grown out as these were - they certainly improve as they get older, as do most of the South American cichlids, IMHO.

Question solved I think! I'm gonna sneak a pic tomorrow if I'm there, and post it for confirmation, but from memory it does appear to be leucostica.

Thanks a lot, both of you.

Phil

[RD.]

Phil - check out Golds, I got that juvie Satanoperca leucosticta from Dennis just a couple of weeks ago, and there was a tank full of them. (3-4")

[mitsukuni]

Phil - check out Golds, I got that juvie Satanoperca leucosticta from Dennis just a couple of weeks ago, and there was a tank full of them. (3-4")

Thanks for the headsup! I got two of them this past weekend. Here's a crappy out-of-focus pic of them, as they make a mess of the mysis shrimp in the feeder:

I guess I didn't exactly say where I was putting them, did I... well, time for me to fess up. I've been wanting these guys for my ....discus tank...yes, discus tank, for quite a while. And that's where they went. Might be controversial to some, but according to my research, they like the higher temps, and they are very peaceful, so... here's a sneak peek:

My living room 60g now sports three discus, a pair of rams, the 2 s.leucos', half dozen rummynose, and a queen arabesque (sp?) pleco.

The first 24 hours saw a cloudy tank, as the leucos' sifted the bottom, but once they had completed their rounds it was pretty much back to normal. During feeding time, the male ram rules, but otherwise, everybody is quite amicable.

Thanks again for the input on these - they are as cool as I had hoped they would be! :thumbs:

(my obesession with "geos" continues... :blush: )

Phil