# YES ANOTHER RHOM ID



## rbP NUT (Dec 2, 2003)

just bought a rhom, not bothered what it is, was told its a xingu but im happy its a rhom. can you tell me if im right, its just to satisfy my personel knowledge.
he is very aggressive, he does hide alot but will chase my finger all day long if i where to do so, but i tend to leave the little terror in peace.


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## LaZy (Jun 17, 2003)

he looks sweet dam but Iono


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## sweet lu (Oct 3, 2003)

sweet man









i think it might be a highback though but i am not really that sure


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## khuzhong (Apr 11, 2003)

looks exactly like mine.. and i have no idea other than its a rhom.. yours is maybe 3 or 4" ?


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

Wow, nice fish









If the lfs people can confirm it was indeed caught in the Rio Xingu river, then you have a Xingu rhom indeed. If not, you won't be able to tell for sure.
Collection point is the only pointer that has somewhat of a value, because it enables you to compare it with other specimen from the same area.
Common names, based on shape, pattern or color have no value, and can be attached to fish at will, by anyone...

So, the only thing you can be sure about is that you have a rhom, possibly A Xingu rhom (if it can be confirmed) - that's about it, I think...


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## rbP NUT (Dec 2, 2003)

thanks guys


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## PiranhaMaster (Oct 21, 2003)

I am very jealous right now... I have many rhoms right now but not that varient. The humeral spot and golden color gives it a strong possibility of being a Xingu varient. Way too small to tell at this point but by 4" you will know for sure if it is indeed a xingu as they develope their traits extremely fast.


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## rbP NUT (Dec 2, 2003)

PiranhaMaster said:


> I am very jealous right now... I have many rhoms right now but not that varient. The humeral spot and golden color gives it a strong possibility of being a Xingu varient. Way too small to tell at this point but by 4" you will know for sure if it is indeed a xingu as they develope their traits extremely fast.


 OH :sad: its about 4-4.5" what does this mean?


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## PiranhaMaster (Oct 21, 2003)

If that thing is 4.5" and still has that spotting and lack of color I would guess that you are going to have a very large fish on your hands. Are you 100% sure that you are measuring correctly? By 4.5" you should have alot more color definition.


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## rbP NUT (Dec 2, 2003)

are you being serious? the thing is 4.75" nose to tail it is rather bigger then smaller 4-4.5 was just a guess here is a better pic


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## PiranhaMaster (Oct 21, 2003)

He might just need a better diet to bring out some color. I would try to get it to eat for the next week or 2 and see if it starts to look more like this 3" xingu

Credit: MarcusK


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## PiranhaMaster (Oct 21, 2003)

Or this 5" xingu

credit: Vlahos


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## PiranhaMaster (Oct 21, 2003)

What color are the eyes of your fish when you look at it? I don't know if the camera is affecting it or not. Was one pic with flash and one w/out? The coloration seems alot different between the 2 pics.


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## rbP NUT (Dec 2, 2003)

i will do that, feeders, steak and shrimp ok for rhoms?


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## PiranhaMaster (Oct 21, 2003)

also plz try to get a better pic, you need a full body flank shot without flash for best ID results.


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## PiranhaMaster (Oct 21, 2003)

rbP NUT said:


> i will do that, feeders, steak and shrimp ok for rhoms?


 At that size it might be tough to get it to eat anything but live food. I would toss 1 feeder a day in there for a week or 2 and see what happens. If it doesn't finish the feeder then remove what is left and add a fresh one the following day. this should fatten him up fast.


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## rbP NUT (Dec 2, 2003)

cant get a pic right now as he's hiding here is one but got flash, sorry


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## mrt-bone (Jan 10, 2004)

sorry


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## PiranhaMaster (Oct 21, 2003)

mrt-bone said:


> Is this a rhom?????riverwonders,,, 5-45.00 special.....


 No


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## mrt-bone (Jan 10, 2004)

remove post please sorry to bother you busy people


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## Death in #'s (Apr 29, 2003)

mrt-bone said:


> Then what is it????they said black pirahna.....what do you guys think????
> they get along ok....but r very aggressive.....










stop derailing thius thread and start your own please
you will get alot more responses that way and nicer ones








thats a bad pick but it might be a natt
and no rhoms (black piranha) should be kept together they are solitarre


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## rbP NUT (Dec 2, 2003)

he has been in my tank for 24hrs now, iv got 3 feeders in there but he has only taken there tails


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## hastatus (Jan 16, 2003)

S. rhombeus = Guyana rhom, Xingu rhom, Diamond rhom, yellow rhom, and every other common name you can think of for one species, it is still S. rhombeus. That is #1 reason why Science doesn't recognize common names.


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## PiranhaMaster (Oct 21, 2003)

hastatus said:


> S. rhombeus = Guyana rhom, Xingu rhom, Diamond rhom, yellow rhom, and every other common name you can think of for one species, it is still S. rhombeus. That is #1 reason why Science doesn't recognize common names.


 I think most of us understand that all of these fish fall under the species S. Rhombeus but there are obvious differences between the rhombeus piranhas from the different regions. The origin of your specific varient is a good thing to know to help in your matainance of water parameters to give the fish it's most natural water conditions such as hardness, PH, minerals, nutrients and current. Providing ofcourse that you know the conditions of the rivers in the 1st place. I believe that Peruvian Rhoms are from whitewater and Xingu from clearwater but I don't remember for sure. I also understand that these are not the reasons for most of the inquiries as not everyone will be able to achieve these conditions or even bother trying, but it does give us a reason to want to be able to identify the difference between the multiple varients. The perfect natural water conditions should increase the health of the fish and also it's natural behaviors including aid in breeding.

Just because science has not taken the time to recognize the differences in the varients does not mean they they don't exist.

These are just my opinions and as long as I believe them I will continue to assist in identification whenever possible. Atleast to the best of my ability. I have a feeling that you also would like the varients classified but are just getting tired of being asked when there are currently no recognized answers. I am not the authority you are on the subject and therefore am able to give answers that are mearly an educated guess rather than a scientific fact.

I am open to hear your criticism if you think I am doing more harm than good.


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## PiranhaMaster (Oct 21, 2003)

Obviously Yellow, Highback, or Diamond do not add anything more than sale purpose for the LFS


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## hastatus (Jan 16, 2003)

> PiranhaMaster Posted on Jan 28 2004, 04:55 AM
> QUOTE (hastatus @ Jan 28 2004, 03:18 AM)
> S. rhombeus = Guyana rhom, Xingu rhom, Diamond rhom, yellow rhom, and every other common name you can think of for one species, it is still S. rhombeus. That is #1 reason why Science doesn't recognize common names.
> 
> ...


That is NOT the problem. Science has indeed recognized differences historally and opened a can of worms by just putting on a name on a species that does indeed have a polymorphic variation by geography and water.

Through DNA only one species of S. rhombeus (Catalao lake) has been recognized as a distinctive species of rhombeus. Reason? Lake was closed in and these fish interbred so much that it was no longer recognizable from the species S. rhombeus. Throughout its range S. rhombeus as adult is recognized primarily by its eye color (red) and internal morphological similarities. It is a complex species and you can't go solely by coloration or body shape alone. Locality doesn't help much except that (thanks to George Fear), I've been able to provide some information on the variation of localities from Peru, Xingu, etc. But even with these minor color and body shape differences among juvenile fish. You cannot simply state 100% that fish #1 comes from Xingu only. Argentina may have identicle fishes that appear just like the Xingu rhombs. There remains other unexplored areas that some newer unpublished S. rhombeus have not made it in print or on my web site because their appearance is vastly different from the ones we are getting to know.

So yes, while your remarks are largely opinion, so are mine. My opinion is avoid trying to put a locality name on an S. rhombeus unless you, yourself collect it from the river. While trusting dealers may seem like the best alternative, even they can get imports from fishes that are mixed in from the wrong river but are added to fill an order. I believe OPEFE and PFURY have been making tremendous achievements in helping dealers, collectors and hobbyists better learn their fishes. By becoming knowledgeable it becomes harder for the seller to fool the buyer. Then everyone wins.

I find nothing in your remarks "that harm" and glad I had this opportunity to address your concerns. I think we are fortunate that George has been extremely helpful in trying to provide the best data available on his collections of wild fishes.


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## rbP NUT (Dec 2, 2003)

WOW!!!!!!!!!
what a response. can i thank every one who helped me with this thread and iv learnt some more today. thanks again guys. he's eaten his first feeder lastnight so


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## rbP NUT (Dec 2, 2003)

this may be a better shot for those who requested








as you can see i was wrong about the size, in actual fact it it about 5"


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## oburi (Jul 11, 2003)

Very beautiful piranha.

Oburi


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