Color Variances in Fish

[Slayvoff]

As I research the fish I want more and more, I am coming into what might be an issue, and probably obvious to all of you. I see a fish I like and google it. When I do that, I see a whole bunch of variances that are not even close to as attractive as the one I saw. Let me give an example, the Rainford's Goby.

Here is a picture someone posted and I found similar on google, that is gorgeous:

Then google also came up with a ton that look like this:

Now, the first one looks 100x more attractive to me than the 2nd. But they're both the same fish right? If I order from a website, such as liveaquaria, how will I know what I'm getting? Actually, liveaquaria's page for the goby shows yet another color: http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/164/court-jester-goby?pcatid=164&c=15+31+164


And I notice this with more and more fish as I look into the ones I like. At the end of the day, how do you know what color scheme you're going to get? Shopping at only my LFS limits to the very select stock they have, so online is the best option. I know about the WYSIWYG and that's a way to ensure you know exactly what you're getting, but that is also somewhat limited in supply.

 

[Maritimer]

They're the same species of fish, but under very different lighting and conditions. That can have a _huge_ effect on a fish's appearance.

~Bruce

 

[Slayvoff]

They're the same species of fish, but under very different lighting and conditions. That can have a _huge_ effect on a fish's appearance.

~Bruce

Got it. So that bottom fish will look just like the top fish if the bottom fish was right next to that top fish in real life? Under aquarium lighting with all the color mixing it'll make the fish all look vibrant?

 

[Maritimer]

They'd look much more similar.

Good reef lighting can make some fish look spectacular ... and others look kind of . . . meh. I've got a smallish coral beauty who's the most brilliant ultramarine blue, with orange flanks that resemble a glowing ember - under standard freshwater lighting. Get her under my MarsAquas, though, and the blue seems to go blackish, and her orange fades back; she becomes a darkish and uninspiring fish. (I love her anyway!)

~Bruce

 

[eatbreakfast]

Lighting, diet, maturity, social situations and general stress can all have a good or bad affect on an individual fish's appearance.

 

[Matthew Dambra]

The distinct colors can also be a bit different based on where the fish was caught, some fish can be found in multiple places around the world

 

[4FordFamily]

Lighting, diet, maturity, social situations and general stress can all have a good or bad affect on an individual fish's appearance.

Not to mention, online, people play with photos to make fish and dorsal appear more stunning, frequently. Be mindful of this!

 

[Cheilinus]

Just to provide a few photo examples from my system of what has already been mentioned... I've posted some of these pics elsewhere on R2R, so my apologies if you've seen them already.

Here are a couple photos of my Tripletail Maori wrasse.

This one was taken under (roughly) 12K LED lighting

Same fish, Same day, but was taken in the early morning under natural sunlight.

Here are a couple of my Snooty Maori wrasse. Same fish, same day, same lighting. He usually sports the brick red coloration, but sometimes will become a very bright red.

Sorry for the blurry pics here.

These are my two Picasso triggers. Different fish. One is a bit larger at 6', and the other is 3'. The smaller is much more vibrant than the larger. Not sure whether this is in regards to where they were collected, size, or possible stressors, but they are quite different in terms of color.

Larger Picasso

And my smaller one.

One last example. This is my French Angel. His coloration is split bilaterally down the center. The degree of this varies from day to day, sometimes being fairly subtile like in the pic, while others the line is very pronounced with one half being nearly black, and the other a very light gray. It's always the same side that is darker. I am unsure of the reason for this, and if anyone has an idea, I'd certainly be appreciative of the info.