Victoria Posted January 17, 2013 Report Share Posted January 17, 2013 So, rearing some M. estherae fry in my planted tank, and I have noticed that at least one have quite faint white vertical stripes on it. There are quite a few stripes, I'd say >5, and they are uniform in width from the dorsal area to the belly. The stripes appear to start behind the gills, and finish at the base of the tail fin, but they're vertical. It's quite difficult to see them, but I've given the best description that I can. The striped fry has siblings that have no visible stripes, just the regular block yellow/orange. It's hard to get a picture because they're too quick. The parents were the yellow/orange female, whilst the male was yellow with a blue hued fin. Is this pattern where the 'zebra' part comes from? Will they fade? Another thing is that they seem to have very tall dorsal fins, disproportional to their body. Is this abnormal for fry, or will they grow into them like how kids grow into feet? lol Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victoria Posted January 17, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2013 Its a poor image, but I hope you can kinda see the stripes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victoria Posted January 17, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2013 A slightly better picture! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt_a Posted January 18, 2013 Report Share Posted January 18, 2013 The stripes will fade as the pigment increases. Even on adult fish, the stripes are technically there, you just can't see them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victoria Posted January 21, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2013 Interesting, thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeadFishFloating Posted January 21, 2013 Report Share Posted January 21, 2013 You see this on all "tangerine" morph fish. Its more obvious when fish are being territorial. and mbuna are basically territorial from birth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
