Breeding of P. quindecim

[Peter Finke]

Some days ago I received four pairs of P. quindecim from Bernhard Lukiewski (Berlin), who is our best specialist for that species. He breeds this species since long, at least since seven or eight years. Two of the pairs will go on to Helene in some weeks time when I shall visit her. Now, the four pairs inhabit four small tanks for their own (12 liters) without any technique besides lighting.
Two things are remarkable:
(1) Two of the four pairs have spawned already. That is not very special, for we know that Paros are often instigated to spawn by water change or change of tank. So this indicates normality. But together with the second point it is remarkable, nevertheless:
(2) All quindecim we have in Europe stem from the same group of fish that was imported by Glaser (Rodgau/Germany) about ten years ago under the name of “spec. Manismata”. The species was not scientifically described at that time; this happened only in 2005. We had often problems of fertility and health with Paros from the third or fourth generation onwards, but nothing of this is to be noted with quindecim. Sometimes we had fish not equally colourful than in the early generations, but even this changed again in the next generation when given good nutritious food and water with a low germ density.
These fish are at least the tenth or twelfth generation, and they are fully healthy and colourful. This is remarkable: the colourful normality of healthy quindecim in such a high generation that was never freshed up with new blood from a second import.

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