Taxonomy: The real Lemonpeel Angel?

[Zionas]

The Cocopeel Angelfish Inspires A Good, Old-Fashioned Taxonomy Fight!

The world of taxonomy is, more often than not, a stolid and staid affair, but every now and then a species comes along that gets everyone’s blood a-boiling. S

reefs.com

This article seems to suggest that what we know as C. Flavissima might not be as simple as we think. Could many of the “Lemonpeel Angelfish” making it into our hobby not be the true C. Flavissima but another species? Maybe even a lot of C. Cocosensis without us knowing it?

The interesting part is “Lemonpeels” found from many parts of the Pacific are shown to be virtually no different from C. Vrolikii in terms of DNA. Could they be a yellow form of C. Vrolikii?

This complex involving the Flavissima, Eibli, and Half-Black are well-known to hybridize. I suspect many of the specimens we get for sale may not be “pure” once we do some DNA analysis.

Bali Aquarich recently started breeding the commonly seen Lemonpeel x Half Black hybrids again and they reported that some specimens came out with tiger stripes, which is a dead giveaway that one or both parents in the broodstock pairs have Eibli DNA.

 

[i cant think]

The Cocopeel Angelfish Inspires A Good, Old-Fashioned Taxonomy Fight!

The world of taxonomy is, more often than not, a stolid and staid affair, but every now and then a species comes along that gets everyone’s blood a-boiling. S

reefs.com

This article seems to suggest that what we know as C. Flavissima might not be as simple as we think. Could many of the “Lemonpeel Angelfish” making it into our hobby not be the true C. Flavissima but another species? Maybe even a lot of C. Cocosensis without us knowing it?

The interesting part is “Lemonpeels” found from many parts of the Pacific are shown to be virtually no different from C. Vrolikii in terms of DNA. Could they be a yellow form of C. Vrolikii?

This complex involving the Flavissima, Eibli, and Half-Black are well-known to hybridize. I suspect many of the specimens we get for sale may not be “pure” once we do some DNA analysis.

Bali Aquarich recently started breeding the commonly seen Lemonpeel x Half Black hybrids again and they reported that some specimens came out with tiger stripes, which is a dead giveaway that one or both parents in the broodstock pairs have Eibli DNA.

This could possibly Be what happens during collection. I wonder if they are a yellow form of C. vrolikii, it’s interesting to hear some of the new hybrids have stripes Id love to grab one but doubt they’d make it over here before being grabbed.

It’s interesting to hear it being called “The False Lemonpeel” It would be fun to try hunt down a true lemonpeel though haha

 

[Zionas]

Hahaha sure thing.

As of now the science isn’t exactly clear, but I’ve been following some of the latest developments when it comes to renaming or reassigning species, mostly in the wrasse and damsel families, the new names haven’t gone mainstream yet but it’s interesting nonetheless.

I do however question the accuracy of the map when it comes to the distribution of C. Vrolikii. From YouTube videos I’ve seen, they are far from a rare sight in Japanese waters.

 

[i cant think]

Hahaha sure thing.

As of now the science isn’t exactly clear, but I’ve been following some of the latest developments when it comes to renaming or reassigning species, mostly in the wrasse and damsel families, the new names haven’t gone mainstream yet but it’s interesting nonetheless.

I do however question the accuracy of the map when it comes to the distribution of C. Vrolikii. From YouTube videos I’ve seen, they are far from a rare sight in Japanese waters.

The renaming from the wrasses is a nightmare, I’m not looking forward to if they rename one of the Lubbocki fairy wrasse variants.

 

[Zionas]

Me neither. The new names often sound mind boggling complicated.