S vaillanti is my guess as well but they shipped in as
S acrostoma
- which were actually initially identified as "regular" chocolates
S ophromenoides shipping as substitute on the originally ordered
S vailllanti
yet?
But then the invoice identified the fish as
S acrostoma (which some of the arrived fish may well be, I didn't look all that closely at the remaining fish - I only had a small Q tank so I selected smaller fish
)
vaillanti &
acrostoma are both paternal mouthbrooders & much more similar in shape than
osphromenoides/selatenensis so when I looked at those plain pale fish, I assumed they were correctly labelled & almost picked up only a few
but then decided maybe they'd be less shy in a larger group ...
As they've settled they are bolder than
S osphromenoides, tank only receives ambient light & I usually just feed & have minimal interactions with newly arrived fish
I only "know" either fish from photos/video, these guys are pretty young (2 - 2.5 cm SL) so I've been wondering - do I just have fabulously adjusted
S acrostoma with a bit more color re locational variant???
- that distinct blue sheen has only become apparent in the last day or 2 ... and maybe it's my over zealous imagination