Sonny Disposition
Active Member
So I was watching the beta male Labidochromis caeruleus in the 55 long today. He didn't grow that big, and his color isn't all that great, so I have him separate from the Labidochromis breeders in the tank next door.
Also in the tank are the assortment of feral cichlids I brought back from Florida--Mayans, jewel fish, black acaras, and the baby jaguar guapote.
They've all figured out just who it is who feeds them, so as I was passing by the tank, they all lined up at the glass right where I was standing.
The yellow lab immediately flared out his gills and strafed one of the Mayans. He did it a time or two again while I was standing there.
I looked at his gill cover, and darned if he doesn't have a little black opercular spot, similar (but not as large as) the opercular spot on a bluegill.
The same adaptation, fulfilling pretty much the same function, on distantly related species from different parts of the world. Parallel evolution is so cool!
Also in the tank are the assortment of feral cichlids I brought back from Florida--Mayans, jewel fish, black acaras, and the baby jaguar guapote.
They've all figured out just who it is who feeds them, so as I was passing by the tank, they all lined up at the glass right where I was standing.
The yellow lab immediately flared out his gills and strafed one of the Mayans. He did it a time or two again while I was standing there.
I looked at his gill cover, and darned if he doesn't have a little black opercular spot, similar (but not as large as) the opercular spot on a bluegill.
The same adaptation, fulfilling pretty much the same function, on distantly related species from different parts of the world. Parallel evolution is so cool!
