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Re: Lampeye Notes v2



btpmsi wrote:
> 
> All,
> 
> I have been observing the display antics of my Plataplocheilus Sp. aff.
> pulcher this evening and noticed something I've never heard mentioned before
> with these fish. As part of their display behavior they flare their gill
> covers and extend a "throat-flap" that drops below the mouth and gill region
> very similar to the way Procatopus males show off for one another. In
> addition, they have the ability to "flash" a tiny metallic-blue spot at the
> tip of their upper jaw, like a miniature spot light. I have seen a similar
> ability in my male L. kassenjiensis where he "flashes" his blue body at
> others of his species. I wonder if these behaviors are similar in function
> to how male Rainbowfish interact, when they "flash" portions of their head
> regions at each other. Do other Killies show this ability?

Yep. I have observed the effects you are describing and some slightly more
subtle ones in Lampeyes. *Procatopus* males can really change their side
irridescence to attract the girls. *Pantanodon stuhlmanni* males put on a
spectacular breeding display of body and fin colors for a couple of hours
every morning. Blue, white, lavendar and yellow are all prominent for that
brief show. By shortly after noon, they are just a dull silver.

Other killies? Probably as many or more than Rainbows!

Most pupfish have the ability to some extent. The *Cyprinodons* of the SW
desert areas can flash electric blue stripes, from either side of the dorsal
to the snout, at amazing speeds. They are so brilliant the flashes are obvious
through 20' of clear spring water, when breeding. Not bad for a fish rarely
over 2" long.

Likewise, the double golden yellow stripes of some White River Springfish
(e.g., *Crenichthys Baileyi*) are made of chromatophores that the fish can
"flash" at will.

I don't know if the reflective head spot of any *Epiplatys* is under the same
conscious control, but it certainly is in the *A. sp. aff. escherichi* TDK
97/2 (formerly *micropthalmum*). That was one clue that made me question
whether they were truly even Aphyos! Ever see one with an Epi spot? That they
can flash?

Many of the BIV group have two dark longitudinal stripes they can turn on and
off with mood.

Need I go on? ;-)

Wright

-- 
Wright Huntley 510 612-1467 - 879 Clara Drive, Palo Alto CA  94303

   "You need only reflect that one of the best ways to get
   yourself a reputation as a dangerous citizen these days is to
   go about repeating the very phrases which our founding
   fathers used in the struggle for independence."
           --   Charles A. Beard (1874-1948), U.S. historian
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