RE: [RML] two questions

Taylor, Ralph (taylorr at Marshall.edu)
Wed, 16 Aug 2000 13:16:06 -0400

Hi Mike, I have M. herbertaxelrodi and there is a tremendous difference in
my males and females. The males are a brilliant yellow on the anterior
third of the body and the crest of the head is royal blue. I have a trio in
a 2 gal homemade tank and they produce a huge number of eggs each week.
Raising the fry is another matter. They are small and tough to get to
adults. Yes the females look like all other bow females (maybe a little more
color). Nice fish!
Dr. Ralph Taylor
College of Science, Dean

270 Science Building
Phone: (304) 696-3167
FAX: (304) 696-3243
Email: taylorr at marshall.edu <taylorr at marshall.edu>

-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Eckardt [mike at odg.com]
Sent: Wednesday, August 16, 2000 11:50 AM
To: Rainbow List
Subject: [RML] two questions

Hi folks.
I have two questions which I couldn't find answers to in my
references and I
hope you could help me.

1. I have seen plenty of pics of male M. herbertaxelrodi,
but none of female
fish. How do they look? I have two males, definitely, and a
fish with the
same colours but without the "hump" above the head. Is this
a female fish? I
was under the (false?) understanding that most female
Melanotaenia sp. look
very plain and are easily confused with females of other
species. What
confuses me here is a) the colour being just as bright as
for the males, and
b) the lack of any breeding behaviour among the fish and c)
the obvious
roundness of the belly and the absence of the typical 'bow
head.

2. I lost two female threadfins to something weird: it
seemed that parts of
their bowels were expelled, hanging out of the anus and
quickly becoming
fungused and infected. Any ideas whether this might be a
food issue,
genetics, or something else?

Thanks so much.

Michael Eckardt