# Other Aquarium Forums > Freshwater Fauna >  Dario hysginon and Dario sp.

## hwchoy

here's (most likely) a _Dario hysginon_





and here's the undescribed _Dario_ sp.

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## andrewtyr

do they grow big enough to attack fish and shrimp?

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## hwchoy

they're at most 20mm.

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## valice

But I see that my suspected _Dario hysginon_ checking out the shrimps in the tank once in a while... Very interesting...

PS: Choy and ranma, I think I have a 2 males and one female... Males are getting real red and flaring all the time...

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## oblivion

yeah. ive got them in my tank with cherries
they basically mind their own business and like to skulk around the dw and plants -- rarely do they venture and swim around in the open spaces
they don't disturb the shrimps at all.
anyway i think my shrimps are bigger than them

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## oblivion

> But I see that my suspected _Dario hysginon_ checking out the shrimps in the tank once in a while... Very interesting...
> 
> PS: Choy and ranma, I think I have a 2 males and one female... Males are getting real red and flaring all the time...


hmm thats interesting, i shall observe and see
maybe they are looking for weaknesses?
but then their size doesnt pose a threat to shrimps
and i always feel that with sufficient cover, shrimps will generally be fine

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## wasabi8888

Hi all

what do you feed the badis badis? i heard that they only go for live feed. Is that true?

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## valice

yup.. Here it is...
Believed to be _Dario hysginon_ too...

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## stormhawk

That's a very nice specimen Valice. It is indeed _Dario hysginon_.  :Wink:  

I've never seen this species for sale before in Singapore.  :Smile:

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## stormhawk

Yes. Badis and Dario species usually feed only on live food. However the larger Badis species have been known to feed on flake foods and sinking pellets at times. The Dario species however, require live foods most of the time.

Choy, I'm not sure of the species in your 1st pic, but the 2nd pic is a new species and the 3rd picture is that of _Dario hysginon_. The fish in the 2nd pic is very stunning indeed.  :Smile:

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## hwchoy

JY, long time no see. the 2nd picture is indeed new. either first or 3rd is _D. hysginon_. Right we're all terribly confused as they are in the same shipment and all mixed up. Long discussion in petfrd.com.

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## hwchoy

vincent, are you sure the one with the bump head is _D. hysginon_?

Jian Yang, this fish is mixed with the undescribed one (barred body with black head). Can get them from the Great Hall of the Azmi.  :Grin:

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## ranmasatome

WTH!! what bump la!!! hahaha.... :Grin:

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## hwchoy

don't tell me I have to explain quadratic equation AGAIN! grrrr  :Grin:

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## stormhawk

Hi Choy, yes its been a long time since I logged on to any of the fishy forums. My other hobby has overtaken my passion for fishes for now.  :Embarassed:  

Anyways, there's no issue of a mixup when it comes to the males. The females however, may cause some problems when it comes to identification. I reckon the two mixed species may have similar looking females so that might be a headache.

The 3rd pic is definitely hysginon and the 2nd is a new species, which I think Nonn mentioned about catching during his trip to Bangladesh sometime back. I wonder however, if the 2nd is _Dario dayingensis_ instead. Just a guess on my part though.

Either way, the 2nd pic Dario is a beauty and I want some.  :Grin:

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## hwchoy

and what might that new hobby be? does it have two legs? 

no, the second fish was actually pictured as a "morph" of _D. hysginon_ it its description paper. at that the they only have one specimen. so this is a new species conspecific with _D. hysginon_ which is a burmese fish, not India/Bangladeshi.

There are two kinds of fishes in the mixed batch, corresponding to fish 1 and 3. one has a "bump" on the head while the other does not. this bump has been observed over multiple specimens (pix posted by Mad Scientist, myself and Valice).

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## hwchoy

> yup.. Here it is...
> Believed to be _Dario hysginon_ too...



vincent, your fish has a bump on the head, just like my fish #3, compared to fish #1 which has a smoothly curved head profile.

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## stormhawk

A morph of _Dario hysginon_? That's interesting. I'm not sure if I have the hysginon article in my collection. Mind sending me via email?  :Smile: 

Before I forget, I have the PDF for the new _Simpsonichthys_ from the _antenori_ species group. You want??...  :Grin:

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## Jungle-mania

> Yes. Badis and Dario species usually feed only on live food. However the larger Badis species have been known to feed on flake foods and sinking pellets at times. The Dario species however, require live foods most of the time.
> 
> Choy, I'm not sure of the species in your 1st pic, but the 2nd pic is a new species and the 3rd picture is that of _Dario hysginon_. The fish in the 2nd pic is very stunning indeed.


Actually, I have tried and with success with a nano tank, feeding my dario dario (4 in all) with oceanfree XO super colour. They seem to love it. Unfortunately, this is only successful as I have them with a pair of clown killies and cherry shrimps, so there is no real competition for food.

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## ranmasatome

eh..saw them today at Qian Hu.. in the quarantine section..

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## valice

> vincent, your fish has a bump on the head, just like my fish #3, compared to fish #1 which has a smoothly curved head profile.


Yah..My fish seems to be more like your 3rd fish... So this is not _Dario hyginon_?

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## hwchoy

> Yah..My fish seems to be more like your 3rd fish... So this is not _Dario hyginon_?



not sure, its one or other other

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## Quixotic

> ... no, the second fish was actually pictured as a "morph" of _D. hysginon_ it its description paper...


Choy, can I have the _D. hysginon_ paper pretty please? Thanks... quixotic68 at yahoo.com.sg  :Grin: 




> Actually, I have tried and with success with a nano tank, feeding my dario dario (4 in all) with oceanfree XO super colour. They seem to love it. Unfortunately, this is only successful as I have them with a pair of clown killies and cherry shrimps, so there is no real competition for food.


Hmmm... that is most interesting. I have had different batches of _D. dario_ throughout and they never touch dry food stuff. I know some of them do nibble at them when new in the tank but eventually waste away because they refuse them in the long run. How long have you had them?

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## valice

actually, i found that my _Dario sp_ is eating tetrabits that is left floating in the tank... Because the food goes missing after a day... Unless the two green shrimps in the tank ate them...

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## Quixotic

Don't mean to be doubtful.. hehehe... but I have them alone before without any other inhabitants and dry food is mostly uneaten.

If there are other inhabitants, my view is that if you do not see them take it in their mouth and literally eat them, then I think other inhabitants may be the ones.

But then, I do know of some reports that they do take dry food but very rarely so. Maybe it's my batches that are not trained well enough. *shrug*  :Laughing:

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## valice

Does frozen foods considered as live? Mine eats frozen bloodworms with ferocity... Snapped right out of my pincers...  :Laughing:

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## Quixotic

Yes, frozen or live but not dry ones from my experience. These guys can gobble up huge sized frozen bloodworms and I mean huge!

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## stormhawk

> Actually, I have tried and with success with a nano tank, feeding my dario dario (4 in all) with oceanfree XO super colour. They seem to love it. Unfortunately, this is only successful as I have them with a pair of clown killies and cherry shrimps, so there is no real competition for food.


That's interesting. Most of the time the Dario will "learn" from seeing their tankmates feed on these pellets. Some will adapt to sinking pellets, but most usually ignore them. You're quite lucky that your Dario are feeding on the dry food.  :Wink:  

valice, yours are _hysginon_, if they have that wine red body and the black dot on the front edge of the dorsal fin. Don't worry so much.  :Smile:  

The bump thing can be seen in some specimens of _Dario dario_. Even then among tank-bred _Dario dario_, the head profile can differ in some particular specimens. I have no idea if this is an issue involving genetics for Dario dario at least. Perhaps the "bump" on those "D. hysginon" might signify as a sexual trait, in which the males develop the "hump" on their foreheads. Then again that's just a guess and since those 2 forms were mixed into a single shipment, getting the right females for the males will be a tough job. Without the females to compare with, the bump thing seems like a moot point to me, at least for now.

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## stormhawk

> Yes, frozen or live but not dry ones from my experience. These guys can gobble up huge sized frozen bloodworms and I mean huge!


Quixotic, that's another interesting point. But an article in a recent issue of TFH by 2 people who bred Dario dario, mentioned that sometimes these little fish will choke on oversized food pieces. It would be wise to feed them with smaller food pieces.

I don't like to use frozen foods because they spoil quickly even when under cold storage conditions. Plus, frozen foods tend to lose their nutritional value very quickly. At this point of time I will only recommend the use of live foods, or sinking foods with an attractant. Sera O-Nip proved to be a favourite nibbling snack for some of my Dario in the past, but my results may differ.

If your fishes still love those huge frozen bloodworms, then you're fine.  :Wink:  

Oh yes, you're in BB West, or East? I'm living in BB West.  :Smile:

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## hwchoy

that bump head came out rather consistent in the mixed shipment. the photograph in the description clearly shows the bump. and a few of us who took specimens from Azmi's shpiment also show consistent "bump" and "bumpless" traits.

so far of my three specimens, only the one with "bump" also exhibits the extended first dorsal fin "lappet" as described in the paper. The other two fish (the banded one and the "red with no bump" has a smooth dorsal profile. all of them have the black spot on the dorsal fin.

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## hwchoy

> Yah..My fish seems to be more like your 3rd fish... So this is not _Dario hyginon_?



based on what I'm seeing in the paper, appears to be _D. hysginon_.

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## hwchoy

here's the link to the paper, and the repost of discussion in petfrd

stefan and vincent, I looked at the paper on _D. hysginon_, the photogrpah (including the big one on the cover itself) clearly shows a fish with a "bump" head. It seem my Fish 2 is a male _D. hysginon_ and that Fish 1 must be a dominant male _Dario_ sp. 'Myanmar' (we can discuss what to label this fish!!!) and Fish 3 could be a female or regular male 'Myanmar'.

here's a link to the pages on _Dario hysginon_ http://www.hexazona.com/images/misce...20hysginon.pdf

I went to check because I notice my Fish 3 has faint black mottling on the head. I have removed the dominant male, let's see what will happen.

for easy reference here are my three fishes again:

*Fish 1* - dominant male _Dario_ sp. 'Myanmar'




*Fish 2* - male _Dario hysginon_




*Fish 3* - sub-dominant male or female _Dario_ sp. 'Myanmar'

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## stormhawk

Thank you for the link Choy. Have not logged on to Petfrds.com for ages now.  :Razz:  
I think I have that description in my PC somewhere but its in black and white. You happen to have the actual full description scanned in colour?

If D. sp "Myanmar" just happens to be a morph of hysginon, no matter since that bugger is so much more good looking that hysginon. It'll be great if it turns out to be a new species altogether.  :Smile: 

For what it's worth, your Fish 3 is probably a subdominant male. Female Dario do not seem to have any tinge of colours in their fins. On the flanks, perhaps, but not the fins.

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## hwchoy

I believe it is a different species. they are different enough to be noted, only two out of 700+ specimens. Read the paper those two are specifically mentioned (NRM44002 and 3 I think).

The full colour scan is 150MB that's why I only extracted these pages.

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## stormhawk

I too believe that they are a new species. They don't seem to be a morph to me, at least for now. The fact that the dominant male sp. "Myanmar" seems to have a mottled head and that black pigment in the head region just makes it special. Plus the bands are clearly defined, unlike those on the hysginon, which seem to just fade and become a wine red body colour.

150MB is a HUGE file. No wonder you didn't put it up for a download. If its possible, could you extract the part for dayingensis as well?

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## hwchoy

the male _Dario_ sp. 'Myanmar' normally have a more maroon colour to the band, this really crimson coloration is when it is really pissed (as you can see from the background fish on the left).

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## stormhawk

Hehe, not surprising. The same applies to Dario dario too. But a beautiful picture nonetheless. You captured the beauty of the male sp. "Myanmar".  :Wink:

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## hwchoy

I was lucky, this crimson colour is a flash only, probably around 2-3 seconds. and the tank was damn dim man, I detect a reddening when I happen to have the fish framed in the viewfinder and on focus, so SNAP!!! damn lucky.

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## stormhawk

Well you definitely got it lucky alright. I thought of visiting the Great Hall of Azmi, but its pretty far away from where I live.. so nope. Not for now. I was hoping that Ben might have it, but he doesn't. Oh well, some other time perhaps.  :Smile:

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## hwchoy

> If its possible, could you extract the part for dayingensis as well?


here http://www.hexazona.com/images/misce...ayingensis.pdf

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## stormhawk

Pictures of dead pickled fish. It would have been better had there been pictures of a live specimen provided. Thanks for the link choy.

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## hwchoy

my only concerned is the kiam hee (salted) hysginon doesn't show any bumps 

mr tree has a great pix of the live dayingensis. search here or petfrd.

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## Quixotic

> Quixotic, that's another interesting point. But an article in a recent issue of TFH by 2 people who bred Dario dario, mentioned that sometimes these little fish will choke on oversized food pieces. It would be wise to feed them with smaller food pieces.
> 
> I don't like to use frozen foods because they spoil quickly even when under cold storage conditions. Plus, frozen foods tend to lose their nutritional value very quickly. At this point of time I will only recommend the use of live foods, or sinking foods with an attractant. Sera O-Nip proved to be a favourite nibbling snack for some of my Dario in the past, but my results may differ.
> 
> If your fishes still love those huge frozen bloodworms, then you're fine.  
> 
> Oh yes, you're in BB West, or East? I'm living in BB West.


Thanks for the reminder. I don't really use frozen food actually, only on the rare occassions. Mostly they are fed with tubifex and sometimes BBS. Frozen BS, daphnia or bloodworm are occassional treats.

Supposedly I am on the West side but to be precise, it's around Bukit Gombak.  :Razz: 


Choy, thanks for the links! I just read the Petfrd thread yesterday... hahaha...

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## stormhawk

Gombak is nearby.  :Smile: 

Tubifex works for me most of the time. Currently not keeping any Dario since I fear my angels will try and chow down on them. Strangely though, my angels are leaving my newly bought Bumbleebee Gobies alone. So I might try and get some Darios which are of a bigger size than the ones sold in the shops. No females as usual...  :Knockout:

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## skratikans

could I also have a copy of the dario article ([email protected])

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## hwchoy

does anyone know if this fish _Dario_ sp. 'Myanmar' was assigned a name yet?

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