Acara19
CCA Members
I have acquired a group of the Rio Estrella myrnae that have been going around the club for awhile. Love them, they're gorgeous, huge too, but first thing I noticed was the fact that the males were maroon with gold faces like septemfasciata. One of the females also had a sky blue belly, also like septemfasciata. Upon looking more into the locality morphologically, I noticed their breeding dress also has the trademarked seven stripes of septemfasciata itself (septemfasciata meaning seven stripes). I have not seen any other myrnae locales with such bold stripes on their breeding dress.
Aside from morphology, Rio Estrella itself is pretty much the northerwesternmost point where myrnae (allegedly) naturally occurs, right along the line where (latitudinally) septemfasciata starts to occur. (for reference, Rio Estrella is very close to septemfasciata locales such as limoncito and cornito, just south of Limon, Costa Rica.) This leads me to believe that perhaps they were mistaken for myrnae because of the catch location being along the overlapping territories of both species. If anything it could even be a naturally occurring hybrid as a result of the former. They do share colors with both species, but primarily show septemfasciata esque coloration.
Bottom line is, if I am correct, I'm going to be very unsatisfied about the fact that septemfasciata has been under my nose for the years I've spent looking for them prior to actually getting my hands on Rio Cornito and Limoncito as of this year. Just a theory though, hopefully this thread draws out Matt Chambers himself or anyone else qualified to make a concrete conclusion as to the actual identity and history of these guys. Very nice fish regardless.
Aside from morphology, Rio Estrella itself is pretty much the northerwesternmost point where myrnae (allegedly) naturally occurs, right along the line where (latitudinally) septemfasciata starts to occur. (for reference, Rio Estrella is very close to septemfasciata locales such as limoncito and cornito, just south of Limon, Costa Rica.) This leads me to believe that perhaps they were mistaken for myrnae because of the catch location being along the overlapping territories of both species. If anything it could even be a naturally occurring hybrid as a result of the former. They do share colors with both species, but primarily show septemfasciata esque coloration.
Bottom line is, if I am correct, I'm going to be very unsatisfied about the fact that septemfasciata has been under my nose for the years I've spent looking for them prior to actually getting my hands on Rio Cornito and Limoncito as of this year. Just a theory though, hopefully this thread draws out Matt Chambers himself or anyone else qualified to make a concrete conclusion as to the actual identity and history of these guys. Very nice fish regardless.
