Flame Tetra Vs. Von Rio Tetra

[Ruskull]

I know they're supposed to be the same but..............

I now have (10) Von Rio Flame Tetras and they vary quite a bit. I got my first (6) Von Rios at PetCo because they had a sale for just a $1 each. I researched about them & found out they're also known as "Flame Tetras" on various sites. Some other fish have more than one name like Serpae Tetras are also known as Red Minor Tetras & Black Skirts are also known as Black Widow Tetras, so I thought nothing of it.

I recently noticed some of the Von Rios being sold at a fish only store and these weren't quite as brightly colored and they had verticle tiger stripes on their sides. Now that I've added (4) and they're in the tank with the others they look very different even in body shape. The ones with the stripes seem very tough too, asserting themselves in the Von Rio gang in the tank, even though the new ones are all smaller.

Could it be that the striped ones are wild caught, while the brighter colored ones are genetically color enhanced like many other fish?

That would explain the brighter coloring and the striped ones being a bit meaner.........and if this is so, shouldn't there be a separate sub-species or something?

 

[thereverendturtle]

Can you post pics of both?

 

[Ruskull]

Yes, I'll try to get some pics tonight if I can. The Rios are very hard to get good pics of though since they rarely ever stay still.

 

[Ruskull]

In this picture you can see the difference between the 2 types of Flame (Von Rio) Tetras. The more colorful ones I believe are farm raised, & the less colorful one with the verticle stripes on his face is wild caught. The farm raised version has a more yellow colored lower face & the wild version is more golden. The wild ones are more aggressive too, there's only (4) of that type & (6) of the farm raised domesticated Flames. They do school together but the (4) wild ones are almost always together in the pack.

 

[Ruskull]

Here's another pic of one of the striped Rios: