Leucistic neon tetras

[plecoguy]

i work at a private fish shop when im home from college in the summers, we have been getting those for a while now, never seen them anywere else. Our supplier calls them diamond head neon tetras because they have a little..well sparkle on the top of the head lookin kinda like a diamond. Very neat little fishies!

 

[sunflower]

I saw some diamond head neon tereas today and the only difference I could see compared to the normal ones is that the blue stripe is, as you say, a spot above their eyes.

I dont think they are the same as these.

Great looking fish Wolf

 

[The-Wolf]

ok I'll try and clear this up

The diamond head neon tetra Paracherion innesi Var. are a man made selectivley bred colour morph, these are a natural colour morph and are rarer than albinos.

you can see on the link that the blue stripe on the "diamond head" is on on the head and not running the full length of the body.

 

[bunjiweb]

They just look like albinos to me.... "Colour Morph"... lol?!

Ben

 

[Lateral Line]

Leucistic animals lack melanin pigments. In fish, that would be the melanophores deep in the skin. A true lutino would still show the red and blue stripes because they are produced by different cell types.

The red stripe, is produced by xanthophore cells, which contain carotenoid pigments which are an expression of a different gene sequence. The blue stripe is not a pigment at all. It is produced in iridophore cells which contain layered guanine crystals which refract and reflect incident light.

Lutinoism is a recessive genetic trait but could be selected for, or produced using mutogenic chemicals or radiation.

They are weird. It would be interesting to see if they breed true, or what the result would be of crossing one of these with a regular neon. Assuming they are not sterile of course.

 

[Synirr]

Wow, I don't even like neons, but those look incredible!! I'd really like to see the black ones as well

 

[guppygirl]

Those look awesome, Wolf!!
I want some now...

 

[The-Wolf]

A true lutino would still show the red and blue stripes because they are produced by different cell types.

the red and blue lines are visible, only very faintly

Lutinoism is a recessive genetic trait but could be selected for, or produced using mutogenic chemicals or radiation.

I hope they havn't been tampered with in any way shape or form

They are weird. It would be interesting to see if they breed true, or what the result would be of crossing one of these with a regular neon. Assuming they are not sterile of course.

I doubt I'd ever breed, or attempt to breed, any kind of tetras; let alone these lovely litte chaps.


Synirr
the black neons Hyphessobrycon herbertaxelrodi are a seperate species and not a colour variation. they can be seen in this pic top left & top right

 

[Synirr]

Synirr
the black neons Hyphessobrycon herbertaxelrodi are a seperate species and not a colour variation. they can be seen in this pic top left & top right

Hehe... oh )
They look nice as well... man, maybe I would like tetras if my LFS ever got any fish like that!

 

[The-Wolf]

I found 4 more in another lfs, I presume they came from the same suppliers
needless to say I brought them too
total is now 14 of these stunning fish

 

[parker313]

Wow, those are really cool looking!!!

 

[jimbooo]

those are really cool paul. nice find.

 

[jacblades]

stunning little fish

wolf, you really should try to breed them though. its a shame beautiful fish like that are such a rarity in the hobby.
im not a fan of tetras but if i could find some of those, id have a large tank dedicated to them alone.

 

[paige]

arrr there soo cute and ....................different
we got ten neons today...............or should i say 9 we asked for 10 and paid for 10 but only got 9

 

[wrs]

my lfs only sells a crappy version of the regular. I wish mione sold those, I love fish like that. Very pretty.