Re: Nothos and turbidity

[Barry Cooper <bjc3 at cornell_edu>]

As a very general statement, all Nothos tend to be found in turbid water. 
There are exceptions to that, as occasionally one finds them in clear 
water. For example, last year we found N. eggersi in water adjacent to a 
rice field that was quite clear. In fact, I have video footage of the fish 
(the blue form) swimming around. They were fully colored up and quite 
easily seen due to their white fin margins. Especially in water that is 
"milky" turbid that is with a whiteish turbidity, males are often washed 
out. In other words, if anything, there is an inverse relationship between 
intensity of color and the turbidity of the water. This is not consistent 
with the often postulated idea that males will be more intensely colored in 
turbid water "so that the females can find them" or that fish will be not 
be colored up in clear water so that they are less obvious to birds.

Barry

At 11:12 AM 6/5/2003 -0500, you wrote:
> Is there a correlation between the intensity in the coloration of
> Nothobranchius males and the turbidity of the water in which they are
> collected in?
>
> Thanks in advance!
>
> Scott
>
>
>
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Barry J. Cooper, Prof. Emeritus, Dept. Biomedical Sciences, Cornell University
Adjunct faculty, College of Veterinary Medicine, Oregon State University
Home address: 27505 Riggs Hill Rd., Sweet Home, OR 97386 (bjc3 at cornell_edu)


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