Re: moae vs. eunotus

[Mike & Diane Wise <apistowise@fgn.net>]

As I said in a previous email, all of the English books show a form of A.
eunotus as 'A. moae' except Römer's Atlas. Photos of the true A. moae can also
be seen in Yamazaki (1997) & in Supplement #2 of SAC II. The following is a
description of A. moae:

The dark markings are weakly developed. The 1-scale wide lateral band is rarely
visible, usually as a row of 5-6 spots. Spots on Bars 2-4 are the most visible.
The lateral band ends at Bar 6. It also runs higher on the flanks than on most
species. The upright oval caudal spot covers the central part of the caudal
peduncle height, but is rarely visible. When the vertical bars are visible
(rare) they  show above the lateral band & rarely extend below the lateral band
(thus there can be no visible split in Bar 6, like most eunotus-complex forms).
Faint abdominal stripes show. Between these stripes, on more colorful specimens,
orange zones are visible. The flank scales on the dorsal part of the body often
show dark edges. This gives the fish a net like appearance. The head profile of
A. moae is rounder than that of typical eunotus-complex fish. Ventral fins are
yellow-orange, the anal fin usually bluish with dark (black or reddish) stripes
running parallel to the rays. The caudal can be immaculate or show a few faint,
narrow, irregular stripes. The upper & lower edges are often edged in pale
orange.

Mike Wise

Randy Carey wrote:

>  From what I've read in aquarium literature and from examples I've seen in
> aquarium photos, the shape of the dorsal (front, top, back) are apisto
> features that can be used for species identification (or "disqualification"
> of candidate species, to be precise).  As I compare the back of the dorsal
> between eunotus and moae males (mature males), I find that it trails to (or
> even past) the back end of the caudal on eunotus, but on moae it extends
> only to about half-way along the caudal.  This feature distinction is
> consistent in photos found in Römer, Linke/Staeck ('84 and '94), and
> Mayland/Bork, and Richter.  Unless someone has some population info that
> contradicts this, I'm sticking with the books and what I see in the photos.
>
> But assuming that the shape of the back-end of the dorsal is not a species
> specific feature, then what would you use to visually distinguish the rare
> moae from the common eunotus?  And to drive the point home, if someone says
> he has moae, he ought to know what feature(s) his has that distinguishes it
> from eunotus -- otherwise how can he say he has moae !?
>
> --Randy
>
> At 11:13 PM 5/20/2002, David wrote:
> >You can't identify these fish  based on transient characteristics like
> >dorsal trailers Randy that can be so much a trait of an individual fish you
> >need more solid markers like caudal spots and numbers of spots and location
> >of spots amongst other things
>
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