SharkAquarium Posted on Jul 18 2003, 10:21 AM
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Frank, Now I am totally confused,,, What about all the references to spilopleura having a clear hyline caudal border? (or am I confused)?
george
Hi George:
S. spilopleura page is next to be worked on and that should clear it for you.
The confusion actually rests on the fact that the CF are very close to meristic counts (body skeletal attributes) to the actual S. spilopleura. Until a complete comparison is done between; S. spilopleura (proper), S. spilopleura CF, S. medinai, S. rhombeus, and S. maculatus these CF fish are going to remain out there. I have essential reports on DNA on these CF, however, what remains to be determined by me is regards to the report itself. Are they writing about these species? Or are they writing about the S. spilopleura (proper) that has a subterminal to near terminal band which brings us to S. maculatus? That is the question I'm hoping to get an intelligible answer on that I can share with you all.
Off the record, these CF that I am discussing look nothing like the proper S. spilopleura. I remain somewhat convinced these may become vario-types of S. medinai or another name that I'm not ready to divulge just yet. But I can't say that I'm right or that I'm wrong nor do I recommend using that name (S. medinai) as many have done in the past for this peru fish, because no actual work has been done on it. What remains is a vague name that I discovered that might pertain to this fish and some ichthyologists considerered a misspelling. This is basically investigative work and I'm hot on the tail of this critter. This other name might not even be valid for this fish and could in the end prove to be an error. But I'm looking
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So please be patient. I'll work on the spilopleura page later today and should get you out of the confusion somewhat. The only problem fish is Jegu S. maculatus. I'm still not fully convinced it is a distinctive fish and I'm going to dig deeper on that one since DNA has entered the picture.
