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otto fish markings

Ryan Thang To

Ryan Thang To

Member
Joined
18 Jul 2013
Messages
1,565
Location
London
Hi guys

I brought 2 ottos nearly 10 week and i notices one has a different marking and was wondering if there was a name for him. Normally it all dark black but this one got grey patches.

Cheers
Ryan

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There's a few varieties I think. I bought more to keep my original company - he's solid dark grey on top and the new ones are more like the one in your picture sort of blotchy but the stripe also breaks before the tail.
 
He could be :) He doesn't look quite like either of mine (I'll take a pic tomorrow) and I don't know how many varieties there are.
 
I have had A LOT of Oto's swimming private tanks, test-tanks and expo-tanks. And I've been wondering, too, why they differ so much. To me there is clearly differences in shape of fins, shape of body, shape of head, coloration and adult size. It's not individual differences -'there seem to be several fish with same appearance, but different from another caracteristic group-appearnce. I can (more or less acurate) select 3 or 4 different "strains". The differences does not relate to fish of different stress-levels, in these cases, I'm absolutely sure.
The "types" happily mix in schooling, but when breeding, they actually also seem to prefere fish of same "category" (but this is defenitely not empiric, since it hasn't hppened that often).
 
He looks like an O.vestitus to me but I find it hard distinguishing them. It's the blotch on the tail that tends to differ.

http://www.planetcatfish.com/common/image.php?species=otocinclus_vestitus&image_id=511

But those commonly sold apart from zebra ottos, all get "brownish" coloured back once they are happy with their environment and stress has passed. Black/white looking are ottos after an extreme stress. You can see them in this black/white colour in the fish shops when they have just arrived in the shops from transport. At that stage the mortality rate is high and if you pick ottos, pick the "brown" ones as they have a greater chance of survival.
 
This is one of my blotchy one, other one wouldn't cooperate.

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sciencefiction said:
This is a coloration of a stressed oto. Watch him. What I mean specifically is the "white" between the grey patches. If he settles eventually I am pretty certain he'll colour up brownish as the rest of them.
Click to expand...
I dont think this is stress. My otto love to Swim and eat all day long lol
 
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