Sold as P. Phoenicurus by reputable importer

Hi Ormet.

Sorry for a little late reply.

The fish in the photos are not easy to determine, – the first could be a phoenicurus female, but to be honest, I am not sure.
The last like a male, but again, – not really sure that is a phoenicurus. They may be rather young fish also.
We would need better photos, with more flashing behaviour, – it is possible also in brown water – but sometimes it takes a long time. And if fish is young of course it will not happen just like that.

The location mentioned, of course as far as I know sound correct in regards to phoenicurus, – but then again, – it may not be an acurate or even ‘true’ locality.

So, my advise 🙂 to wait, and in any case appreciate the fish whatever species it may turn out to be, – there always interesting aspects to be found.

Kind regards Helene

Hi Daniel,

Your fish are indeed still rather young. They could therefore perhaps be any of the phoenicurus/tweediei/rubrimontis group simply judging from the coloration. For a species determination the fish need to grow for at least some weeks or rather a few months. Once they start displaying and mating you will likely be able to get better Determination.

Your pictures are very good by the way!

Time will also shof if you actually have both sexes. Nevertheless I think that you likely have both in the pictures. If you compare the dorsal and ventral fins, the fins of second fish seem to be less round. That might be an early indication. If these were some of my tweediei I’d be pretty sure this is a couple 🙂

However Id suggest you temporarily name them phoenicurus as the importer did. This is at the moment our best clue.

Greetings Rafael