Is this an Albino?

[Alton]

Here is one of my babies. It has had the dark area in front of its tail since birth and the eyes have gotten clearer as it grows. Courious to hear everyones opinion.

[Alton]

Sorry photo was too big, I will crop and reduce it. Then repost in a few minutes, Sorry for the inconvience

[Alton]

Try this again

[Alton]

A friend said this could be a luecistic, like albino but has coloring in the eyes. What does eveyone else think?

[Grummie2]

Its not too clear from the pic but I think the fish has a reduced size pupil. I get this sometimes with angelfish, they're usually blind in the eye (or at least have very little light response), and may show different body colouration (night colours). It is sometimes damage while young or a genetic problem, either way it's incurable. If this fish has both eyes like this just monitor how it interacts with other fish/objects/food and see if its the same as its siblings.

[Alton]

I do not think it has any troubles seeing. It will chase other fish out of its spot in the tank. On another forum I was told it could be a Luecistic, like an Albino but can have color pigmentation on some areas of the body. As this guy grows its colors fade away. I have done some reading on the Luecistic and I do believe that is correct. But I am not an expert and hoping to hear from someone more that knows.

[Grummie2]

Hi Alton. Any chance of a better side view?

[Alton]

I will try to get a side view of him. He is fast and does not like to sit still at all. It took me 2 months to get this pic. So far the pics turn out blurry from him moving. I was trying for a nice side shot but this one was the only one that turned out. I will post the pic as soon as I can get it. I really would like to know more about this luecistic. This guy is one of my Aulonocara Sp. Chitande Type Masinje babies. So they are tough to find and makes him a very rare lil guy. I already know he is staying with me and I will raise and watch him grow. I am courious if this means I may get albinos from a batch or if I was just lucky to get this guy?

[Alton]

Sorry to have taken so long to get this side pic of this guy. He is very tough to get a pic of. But I think it is a good one of him too.

[Lisachromis]

He's not an albino. He does have what we call "pin eye". I would imagine he's blind in that eye. If he was an albino there would be no brown/black on the tail like your fish shows. It's definitely in an odd spot for only that colour. I think it's best to just call him a 'sport' and leave it at that.

[Alton]

Both of his eyes are the same way. As for being blind he has no troubles getting food out of the water or chasing another fish out of his spot. By the way he acts I really doubt he has any troubles seeing. Within seconds of me putting crumbles (Which is his favorite treat) in the tank he is flying around getting them. That is how I can get a pic of him at all. If you would read the posts then you would know I was told he is a Luecistic NOT an Albino like I originally asked. I was asked to keep posting updates of him by another member but I can stop if that is going to be an issue. I will checked out Pin Eye and no such disease came up from a search. If you have a link where I can read up on it I would appreciate it Lisa.

[Grummie2]

Hi Alton, thanks for posting a better picture of the fish. I believe Lisa and I are correct, this fish has a reduced pupil size, not uncommon in the fish world. Can you see a pupil?, even in albinos its plain to see, a leucistic eye would be no different to a normal coloured fishes eye. I'm guessing it's ability to find food is down to its other senses, it must be good with these to have survived and grown normally. Its colouring is correct (apart from the black tail), a little pale perhaps, but if the fish thinks its 'dark' all the time then its going to have 'night' colours which are usually washed out. (I've had the black tail appear in some of my aulonocara too).

[Alton]

Like I said in earlier posts he has a pupil and was normal size but slowly got smaller until its current size now of just a small dot. I will keep him no matter what so honestly I do not care if he is or not. Just kinda cool to see him. I really doubt he is blind. He can swim thru decor in the tank and never run into nothing. Plus if a fish comes into his spot he always gets right in front of them everytime. So his senses would have to be incredible for him to do this everytime.