Hi Jon,
Generally, to lay claim to being first to spawn a particular specie of fish, there is a established regimen that is adhered to. This includes a photo of the adults, the eggs that were laid and pictures of the fry at fairly specific stages of development - generally 10, 20 and 30 days of age.
Additionally, it is the norm for a spawning to be consider "successful," that at least a small number of fish reach sexual maturity. Since I have passed this extremely rare specie on, to other well-known competent breeders, as both juveniles and adults - all the prerequisite requirements for laying claim to having had the first documented spawning of a particular specie has been met. Of course there are no "rules" governing this procedure, but it does go a long way toward allowing a breeder, who oftentimes waits years for a fish to finally spawn from having his or her accomplishment diminished by someone simply saying, "Oh, I've spawned those, already."
No one can refute your claim to having spawned A. spilotus and at this point I only have eggs from the fish. I will however attempt to document the spawning and unless no one has already done so, lay claim to the first "documented captive spawning" of this particular specie.
No offense intended. - Frank
