I Thought I Had A Praecox But Could It Be Something Else?

Hi everyone,

I bought 6 Praecox Rainbowfish 2 weeks ago but one of them (which I thought was a male) is looking a little different from the others. As they have been coloring up, it seems to have a black stripe running through it's body and is not as blueish shiny as the the other males. Could this be a female or another type of Rainbowfish? S/he has been schooling with everyone else as normal. But then again, they school with my zebra danios too, so maybe that doesn't matter. Any ideas?

 

Not sure which Rainbow it is but definitely not praecox.

 

LOL, that's what I figured.

 

This might help you ID it... if you have the time. It used to be downloadable as a free e-book, but it seems that has passed.
Or it might be one that’s labelled in the shop...?

 

 

Sometimes my female will color up like that when they’re really excited by either a male or some food. But they don’t hold that color long. Only a few minutes. Then, back to drab silver body and translucent orange fins.

 

Thanks! I had no idea there were so many different variations. I might have to wait till he gets older to figure it out for sure.

 

I just went checking and found the link to the book. I didn’t know the book form existed. That website is difficult to navigate without being able to just click to the next fish.

Here is the link...
 

 

Nice!! Thank you.

 

So amazing! Thanks @LeahsTank and @Coptapia.

 

Did you figure it out yet? Any chance you bought it in Anaheim, California? I have one that looks similar to yours and don't know what the heck it is either.

 

Nope, no luck yet. It looks like a couple different varieties, and I can't figure out which one, haha. I bought mine in Brookyln, NY, so no where close to Anaheim. But in the mean time, it totally schools with the Praecox as if he were one of them. It will be interesting to see if he gets a lot bigger than they do.

 

Could it be an accidental hybrid? I’ve heard if they interbreed the offspring loses the brilliant colors.

 

As far as mine, right now my best guess is that it might be a female axelrodi. I'll try to get some better photos.

 

Well, there are so many I think it could be: Pygmy, Rubripinnis, Synergos or Trifasciata. Who knows. @LeahsTank could also be right that they are hybrids which explains how they found themselves with the Praecox.

 

Rainbows won't breed with other species in the wild but will in captivity. It's highly frowned upon to breed hybrids.

It could be a young female M trifasciata but hard to tell from the pics. Where did you get it?

 

I got mine from a retail store in a tank with a few others all appearing to be the same breed labeled "Red Rainbowfish." I knew that was incorrect but since it wasn't something I'd seen before I bought one. It's already at least 2.5 inches and only gets a slightly interesting color late at night playing with the Boesemanis. It must be a female, but I am certainly no expert.

 

For me, I got mine at a LFS in Brooklyn, NY and it was definitely sold from a Praecox tank and looked like a Praecox until he colored up and the differences started coming out. I went back and looked at the pictures for the M trifasciata and can definitely see the similarities but even within that strain there seem to be various colorations. For now, he'll be the black sheep of my school of Praecox.

 

Here are some better photos of mine. The one depicting the light peach coloring is what happens in the evening when all lights are off at my place except for the tank and the fish seems to be enjoying the company of the other rainbowfish.

 

Looks like a M rubrivittata or Wapoga Red Laser Rainbowfish (common name).

 

I was going to say a Female Boesemani or Axelrodi. Could be a hybrid like others have said as well. I wouldn't read too much into whether it schools with the others, as most rainbows will.