New Dicrossus warzeli

[Mol_PMB]

I visited Aqualife Leyland yesterday, and came away with a pair of Dicrossus warzeli.
I've had D.filamentosus from them previously, which have bred for me, so I thought I'd try another similar species.

Incidentally, they also had D.maculatus and had only just sold their last D.foirni, so if you want chequerboards in the UK it's a good place to call!

The new pair seem to have settled in to their tank nicely and are flirting already; they've both had a look inside one of the coconut caves too. They're in a 90L with 9 Otos for company.

These pics were taken when they had been in the tank only an hour; they've settled some more since then. I'm looking forward to seeing how they develop.

If anyone has experience of breeding D.warzeli that they could share, that would be great. Otherwise I'll treat them like D.filamentosus and see what happens

Cheers,
Paul

 

[deliriouz]

Quite a rare find! Good luck with the pair. Is the tail in the male a distinguishing feature as it is for maculata and filamentosa?

 

[Mol_PMB]

Quite a rare find! Good luck with the pair. Is the tail in the male a distinguishing feature as it is for maculata and filamentosa?

Thanks
There's not a great deal online about them, although the official description is available for free download. It looks like the male's tail should be more like a maculatus than a filamentosus, and the female's tail is pretty much the same in all these Dicrossus species.
The two I got have similar plain-looking tails at the moment, they're not yet fully grown and may have lost some finnage in shipping. However, there's a big difference in the patterning of the dorsal fin (like on my filamentosus) and they're acting like a pair, so I hope they are!

 

[Mol_PMB]

Who's a pretty boy then?

The male D. warzeli has beautiful tints of blue and lilac on his fins

 

[Fikret Celik]

Excellent fish. I've seen this kind of new. I hope you can produce...

 

[Mol_PMB]

The D.warzeli are getting pretty interested in each other, a little friendly chasing and displaying, much the same sort of thing I've seen before with the D.filamentosus. Hopefully this is a good sign.

They have a choice of spawning sites including plant leaves, bogwood, slate or coconut caves based on the preferences of my D.filamentosus that have spawned previously in such places.

 

[Chromedome]

I would love to find this in the US. Last time I saw this species, it was an undescribed "Crenicara" back in 1974. I have a photo of two males scanned from slide. The fish was bred by James K. Langhammer around that time. I do not recall details of the breeding, though.

 

[Mol_PMB]

Thanks - that's really interesting to see the old photo - long before they were formally described.

 

[Mol_PMB]

So, take II. I came back from a few days away over the bank holiday to find my male dead, so I have managed to get another one today. I hope this attempt is more successful!

 

[Mol_PMB]

The warzeli are moving dead leaves around - I'm taking this as a good sign

 

[Phil O'Sofical]

Hi.

I was working in the North last week and so, partly on your earlier recommendation, I paid a visit to Aqualife Leyland. Had thought I might also buy the D. Warzeli but ended up buying a pair of Taeniacara Candida instead. It was a long journey home but they are now settling well in their new tank.

Incidentally, I already have a few D. Filamentosus which are consistently spawning though I've yet to get any of the eggs to the fry stage.

Anyway, thanks for the recommendation... I'm sure I will visit Leyland again the next time I'm in the area.

Cheers,
Phil

 

[SpotOn88]

Hi

Gorgeous and very rare. I've got 6 of these myself.. 4 definite males even though still juveniles so keeping my fingers crossed that one of the other 2 is a female

Did your pair, if that's what they were, spawn?

I should point out that you actually have 2 Dicrossus Foirni, not Warzeli.. but they are essentially sister species (I believe they are being imported under the wrong name - it's quite easy to distinguish the two if you know what to look for)

All the best