Re: [Killietalk] A. Bitaeniatum (Ijebu-Ode)

[Gary Elson or Mary Frauley <fraulels at videotron_ca>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <BrandtEdL at aol_com>
To: <killietalk at aka_org>
Sent: Wednesday, December 13, 2006 7:45 PM
Subject: [Killietalk] A. Bitaeniatum (Ijebu-Ode)


> Hi all, now that I've checked both websites I realize that I have the ones
> shown on Garysfishroom site and the ones shown on Tim Addis's site which 
> were
> taken at the 2004 convention.  Quite a difference.  How would I be  able 
> to
> sell them if I only know they're Ijebu-Ode and from different people and
> probably different collecting spots?  Thanks,  Ed  Brandt

That's a great question. I would sell them as what they are - Ijebu Ode. I'd 
keep the strains apart and maybe add a note if I sell them as to which is 
which.

You know, if you get to Nigeria, then Ijebu Ode is apparently easy to get 
to. As such, it's probably been sampled a number of times, as some of the 
unlabelled commercial biteniatum probably come from there too. I have a 
friend who has been a commercial importer for 15 years, and I've seen a lot 
of biteniatum from the Lagos area. They really vary. Within each bag of 
2-300 fish, the males are the same. But it's rare for two bags from 
shipments a few months apart to offer males that are the same,. Sometimes 
they're slender. sometimes robust - short-fined long finned, really 
long-finned.... it's fun to see. However, to even attempt an understanding 
of what we're seeing we'd have to have someone collect the exact some spot 
several times a year for several years. We'd have to grow out and photograph 
the fish, and study rainfalls, flooding, food availability.etc.

Dr Romand (if memory serves me right) had an article on geryi in TFH several 
years ago, where he compared forms collected at exactly the same spot 
several years apart and found them radically different in colouration.

Nothing is static in nature - and our attempts to catologue our fishes with 
codes and locations can be a bit like herding mice. If we have two different 
Ijebu Ode's, so be it. 20 years from now we may have 4 or 5.

Gary 


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