A few years ago, before the hybrid issue really got out of hand, I started putting together a few Tanganyikan Synos.
I've recently collected them from a friend after moving house and amongst my 2.2 lucipinnis and 1.1 petricola is a 'Goldeneye' that is frustratingly single and therefore celibate. I'd be grateful if anyone can give me a bit more information on this fish which I've seen listed as synonymous with S. grandiops but seems significantly different from other multipunctata types.
Having looked at a good number of images, I think one of the key aspects is the fact that this fish has never displayed the pale beige base colouration and pale ventral area typical of multis and grandiops I've encountered. I'm currently looking closely at every batch of 'multis' I see just in case..
I think Richard B would be the best one to answer this. I think he's away on holiday at the moment (he mumbled something along those lines when I met him last Sunday).
The 'Goldeneye' was mentioned more often 10 years or so ago and may be as simple as a variant that was collected at a specific location in the lake that has not been collected from recently, that is just conjecture on my part.
As mentioned Richard B may have an idea as may Sidguppy as to the story behind these.
apologies to one and all but the delights of camping in Dorset has kept me away for a bit (Awesome beer festival @ the Bankes' Arms in Studland!!!)
My personal opinion for what it is worth....
I believe there are a number of unidentified tanganyikan synos which appear in the trade and a few of them are incredibly close to known species. Some of these can be told apart by people who have watched tang synos for a long time but to people who are good with cats in general the differences are absolutely minimal.
As far as "goldeneye" goes, i took a long while to find fish that that were labelled as goldeneye which were not just variations of multis. Then grandiops got described and it seemed to all intents and purposes that grandiops was the goldeneye.
However, i do not think this is ACTUALLY the case.
Tanks of grandiops have been historically labelled goldeneye as retailers like to "pigeon-hole a fish for sale into some sort of known/accepted nametag. I do think there is an unidentified grandiops look-a-like or even a specific regional smaller variant which appears once in a blue moon which is what we are referring to. It is a smaller fish, slightly more blunt head, fuller body spotting at the smaller size and swims ever-so slightly differently (& to see this you need to have watched tang synos swim in a multiple variety of set-ups individually and in groups - it just looks a little bit different - some people will know what i mean by this).
There is also the fish that "Mike's Rifts" called 'dhonti small spot' which is a separate unidentified species which has a very subtle different spotting pattern and tail marking (there may be a pic of this on AC). I have seen this fish labelled goldeneye also but is not the species i believe we are discussing (it is different to the pics above). The photos provided do show a blunter head and fuller body spotting. I can't make out the pectoral ray count and can't see how big it is compared to other species or see it move. Also i think it may be a poor ID character to go on ventral colouring as i've seen vast differences in grandiops, multis with colour, spotting etc (i could be wrong on this as too few of what i would call goldeneye have been seen at any time to compare a number of individuals and the variation they might exhibit).
Also different staff at a LFS say different things about the same fish on different occasions - MA Harlestone Heath is a good example. Their malawi display contains breeding synos - one member of staff told me they were goldeneye. On another occasion a different member of staff said they were multis... If you get down there have a look and post your opinions.
ps - MA Harlestone Heath have had fish in the retail tanks labelled goldeneye (for a very pretty penny) which on different occasions have been hybrids which were nothing like tang synos, grandiops and what i think are goldeneyes.
Lou: Every young man's fantasy is to have a three-way. Jacob: Yeah not with another fu**!ng guy! Lou: It's still a three-way!
Thanks Richard, your opinion on this matter is very welcome.
Funnily enough (as I work for MA) I remember the founder stock of the Harlestone display fish and recall when Jeremy Gay put them in - the retail price on them was fierce and so he decided to put them (six individuals) into the display. They were goldeneye but the practicalities of catching fish from that tank have meant that historically few were ever removed again.
I did see a small number placed in the cichlid system (behind Jeremy's original label for the adults) but only ever a handful of fishes.
My fish was found singly at another branch having been brought in by a customer who had it in a tank of mbuna and was assumed to be a multi. Since posting the photo, I've looked at quite a few multis, grandiops and hybrids and none of them are the right fish.
I think a trip to Harlestone Heath is probably on the cards, stay tuned for further developments..
I've just been to MA@ Harlestone and the fishes in the display are indeed Goldeneye. There's still a thriving population so hopefully we can discuss removing a small number for sale.
I took some photos, so once I've processed them I'll post a few..
I have one similar to that. Was supposed to be a multi. I got it as at an inch from someone who bred it like a S. multipunctatus. But, its very shy compared to the 3 wild caught multi's I have it with. Deffinately has a different swagger to it then other multies. Someone once suggested its grandiops. I still havent netted it out to count fin rays yet. Its hard to photograph, as I mentioned its alot shyer then my reg. S. multi's from burundi. It's female. I have 2 male & one female multipunctatus with her. The males pay little attention to her, but harrass the reg. female when my cichlids are ready to spawn. the burundi's are larger then she is. Hope this helps.
Exasperatus2002, that agrees with much of what I've seen and it's great to hear your observations of the interaction with multi's as I've never seen the two mixed.
Thanks for the count Silurus, ray count matches grandiops then - perhaps a variant? It certainly sounds like they're not willing/able to spawn with multi's..
Took a video of mine to help out. I threw some shrimp pellets in for video # 2. I hate shrimp pellets, they're so messy. Also two of my Labs had just spawned so my multi's were a bit rammy.
Thanks Exasperatus, you're a star! That's definately the same fish - rock-hugging, swimming pattern, compact and not keen on appearing on camera. Nice tank by the way..
Tappers wrote:Thanks Exasperatus, you're a star! That's definately the same fish - rock-hugging, swimming pattern, compact and not keen on appearing on camera. Nice tank by the way..
Thanks! I love how rich the colors are in it compared to the multi's. Wish I could find more.
