Kribensis Are There 3 Different Species? Help!

[Jozlyn]

My pair of krib's died. I was devestated, so my husband decided to surprise me and went and bought me a new pair yesterday (from a different shop).

Now here's the problem. I looks like a pair to me BUT hubby tells me that the LFS said that the one I think is female is a Scarlet Kribensis, could this be right?

The fish looks like a female krib' to me, in full colour ready to breed and chasing the male. But could he have got me a different breed of krib'?

I thought that the "Scarlet Krib'" was just another name for Krib's because of the scarlet belly, am I wrong?

This is a picture of her, not very good, but the best I could get, is she just a normal Krib'?

 

[kribensis12]

Same type of krib, different name.

 

[Jozlyn]

So there's only one type of Krib'?

Edit> Just found this info (below) in a post on fish avialble for import to Australia, it lists 3 different types of Krib', What's the difference? I've Googled the names but I didn't find any of the informtion, I want.

Pelvicachromis pulcher kribensis
Pelvicachromis subocellatus kribensis
Pelvicachromis taeniatus kribensis

Same genus, different species, different colour, different type? How does this work? Are they all the same fish, can they breed together? I'm lost, I don't understand this stuff.

Or is it like mollys and guppies, same genus "Poecilia" but completly different species, that should not breed together?

Can someone help me here please

 

[pica_nuttalli]

Same genus, different species, different colour, different type? How does this work? Are they all the same fish, can they breed together? I'm lost, I don't understand this stuff.

Or is it like mollys and guppies, same genus "Poecilia" but completly different species, that should not breed together?

Can someone help me here please

yes, they are distinct species. they also look different, but that's only if you're very familiar with what a common krib looks like. mostly you're going to find pulchur in the stores.

as far as i know, they are like mollies and guppies in that there is a possibilty of hybridization, which should really be avoided. the reason to avoid this hybridization is that the non-pulchur species are relatively rare and it would be better to expend one's energy on breeding the pure strain.

unless your husband paid significantly more money for the female, i would be that your original ID was correct. however, if she was expensive, that doesn't necessarily mean that she wasn't just an over-priced colour morph. its hard to say one way or the other without some pictures.

 

[Jozlyn]

Same genus, different species, different colour, different type? How does this work? Are they all the same fish, can they breed together? I'm lost, I don't understand this stuff.

Or is it like mollys and guppies, same genus "Poecilia" but completly different species, that should not breed together?

Can someone help me here please

yes, they are distinct species. they also look different, but that's only if you're very familiar with what a common krib looks like. mostly you're going to find pulchur in the stores.

as far as i know, they are like mollies and guppies in that there is a possibilty of hybridization, which should really be avoided. the reason to avoid this hybridization is that the non-pulchur species are relatively rare and it would be better to expend one's energy on breeding the pure strain.

unless your husband paid significantly more money for the female, i would be that your original ID was correct. however, if she was expensive, that doesn't necessarily mean that she wasn't just an over-priced colour morph. its hard to say one way or the other without some pictures.

They were both the same price.

As for the pictures, I tried and tried for a couple of hours last night and couldn't get a picture of her. The male would be easy to take a photo of, only I don't need to as I'm absolutely positive he's a p.pulcher. My camera is not very good (it's quite old) and she wont stay still for more than a moment, not enough time to focus and get a picture of her! And yes I've tried using the macro and focusing on a rock etc, etc, etc, still doesn't work for me, all I get is a blurry fish swimming away! She only stops moving if she's in "her" cave or "lurking" in the elodea! Neither of which make for a good picture of her! I'll keep trying tho.

Thanks.

 

[Jozlyn]

bump

 

[jimw13uk]

Yep - she looks like a standard Krib (pulcher) - she has a lswollen stomach and its purple as she is trying to get the male to mate with her - thats what they do and she looks like a very ready Pulcher to me

 

[Jozlyn]

Cool, the only problem is the male is hiding from her, behind the filter! Will he come out eventually, she seems to be a bit bigger than him

 

[jimw13uk]

I think we spoke about this earlier this week

Sounds like the Male maybe a juvenile - I had the same problem with my female to begin with - she nearly beat my first male to death and its only when i swapped him out that things improved - the 2nd male I had was much bigger and better.

the other thing to do is to maybe remove the female for a short time and move things round in the tank whilst shes gone - then re-introduce her to the "new-look " tank and see if things get better between them

 

[Jozlyn]

I've only had them 2 1/2 days.

I can't take her out as I haven't got a tank I could put her in, all my other tanks have she'd eat in them!

 

[jimw13uk]

i think we spoke about the ones that died then late last week or early this week maybe

I would suggest then that you return them both and see if you can get a pair that are already paired up or at least living in a tank together.
Failing that I would try and get the biggest male you can but certainly swap him out if she is harrassing him that much that he is chased in to a corner all the time

 

[Jozlyn]

I don't think it's so much that she's chased him into a corner. He just seems to be hanging out there, he came out to eat earlier, but then headed back to his corner when he'd finished

LFS that hubby got them from wont take returns, they claim that it's their policy because of disease and their supplier would have issues with them if they did! So I'm kind of stuck with them. If it was the one I normally go to, there'd be no problem, they know me really well in there and actually have taken my advice on a few issues, they really have no idea, they just sell fish as part of their Nursery!

Maybe we did, speak about the other two, I was really freaking out!

 

[jimw13uk]

if he isnt being chased by her then i'd watch them and see if he finds his feet over the next few days.
A new environment can be a bit much for them sometimes.

 

[Jozlyn]

Mmmmm that's kind of what I was thinking. She just seems to be more "outgoing" than him. Thanks for the help Jim, I appeciate it

 

[Jozlyn]

Breeding caves!

I have a couple of 2 3/4" terra cotta pots at one end of the tank, do I need to "close" off the front a bit, as I've read that they don't like to be able to be seen when spawning and when the fry hatch?