Trimac color morph?

[rodald]

Lately I have seen some localy (Guatemala) caught Amphilophus Trimaculatum and it has come to my atention that all of them have the same color but none of them resembles the ones I have seen on the internet.

Here are some pictures of local fish



Here an internet picture

As you can see the base color for the ones available on the internet is much lighter and on the local ones the bars are more visible.

You may think that on the pictures the local ones are under stress and thats the reason for the darker color but thats pretty much the same color they keep without being stresed, I have seen some of them in theyr tanks and its the same color.

Having said that, does anyone know where are the collecting places for Rapps and Conkel Trimacs? I guess that would clarify for me if theres a color morph, as far as i know they are the main distribuitors of Trimacs so I am wondering if theyr fish were caught somewhere else.

Or could the captive breeding be a factor for the lighter color? as it happens with Astronotus Ocellatus that they lose the ocelli on the dorsal fin when are bred in captivity?

What is your opinion on it?

I know fish tend to change theyr coloration depending on location and I just want to know if this is the case.

[Darrell Ullisch]

I've seen some amazing color changes in Trimacs as they mature. Your fish are relatively young, while most of the photos you see on the net are large, older fish. Younger fish seem to start out darker and lighten as they mature. I"m sure there are some population differences as well, but for the most part the color differences have to do with maturity.

[Bas Pels]

As far as I know, the trimaculatum comes from a huge area along the Pacific. 2000 km long or something like that

I would expect the species to show some varieties along their distribution. On a sidenote, I do like your fish

much better than the Erkek fish

[rodald]

I've seen some amazing color changes in Trimacs as they mature. Your fish are relatively young, while most of the photos you see on the net are large, older fish. Younger fish seem to start out darker and lighten as they mature. I"m sure there are some population differences as well, but for the most part the color differences have to do with maturity.

that would be another factor to keep in mind, but one of the fish i saw just this week was a full grown up and it had the same colors but i guess you are right and I will have to wait for mine to grow.

As far as I know, the trimaculatum comes from a huge area along the Pacific. 2000 km long or something like that

I would expect the species to show some varieties along their distribution. On a sidenote, I do like your fish

much better than the Erkek fish

Thanks a lot i do like them better that way too and that is the main reason why I wanted to know if anybody knew about any color morph.

[newworldsss]

as far as asking vendors where they got there fish or if they are pure , i won't trust any of them.....sorry just being honest

[smitty]

I do think that you will see some color variations from very very slight to more pronounce based on the conditions they are exposed to. Then selective breeding over the years has altered a lot of captive species. Along with inbreeding. Which I don't do at all cost.