Pentazona Barb (five Banded)

[piper]

I wonder if any one can tell me if these fish are actually Pentazona Barb’s. The one on the left was bought from a different supplier compared to the two on the right.

As you can see by the indication arrows the middle band on the right two hardly extends down their bodies compared to the barb on the left.

I originally had five of each type but lost a lot of my fish due to ich.

So are they the same fish just different variants?

Thanks

 

[Squid]

I just bought 5 more pentazonas yesterday to add to my old two.. Your right, the one on the left is a pentazona, but i dont think the two on the right are..

I remember a similar thread on this a while ago, i will try to find it and help ID them for you.. But im pretty sure they are not pentazona. the shape is not quite right either.

Cheers
Squid

 

[Squid]

I found the below quote from Lateral Line (seems like the resident pentazona expert) which may point you in the right direction.. He/she might be the right person to ask...

could have sworn i saw a photo like that once with a name.. sorry.. will keep looking.

Barbus pentazona grows to over 2"/50mm and looks vaguely like a slightly longer slightly thinner tiger barb with more stripes. A much more peaceful fish though, also a good deal more sensitive. Very susceptible to white spot. Once established in a well maintained tank however, is a long lived trouble free species. One I always have in fact.

There are 4 recognised sub species, B. pentazona pentazona with 5 stripes, B. pentazona partipentazona with 4½ stripes, (the stripe under the dorsal fin does not go all the way down), B. pentazona hexazona with 6 stripes and B. pentazona rhombocellatus which has 5 stripes, but the stripes divide in 2 part way down then rejoin again at the bottom so it looks like a row of diamond shapes - a truly good specimen is a treasure.

They stress easily and should not be kept with anything to boistrous. Other peaceful Barbs, Tetras and ideally Rasboras make good tank mates.

 

[Lateral Line]

Barbus partipentazona. Some people consider B. partipentazona to be a subspecies of B. pentazona, other not.

I used to believe B. partipentazona was a subspecies of pentazona, but the specimens I have seen are much closer to B. tetrazona, (Tiger Barb), in shape, behaviour and colouration. The pentazona group tend to be longer thinner fish then tetrazona and partipentazona which have a deeper body shape.

I think the pentazona group is now...

B. pentazona pentazona
B. pentazona hexazona
B. pentazona foerschi
B. pentazona rhombocellatus

Possibly a tetrazona group or these could be discrete species...

B. tetrazona tetrazona
B. tetrazona partipentazona

... in the absence of genetic studies, it'll be a matter of opinion really.

*** EDIT ***

I was entering the message while you posted that quote from me. I think the body shape and dorsal colouration have finally done it in for the old B. pent. partipent. issue, for me at least.

 

[Squid]

Blimey.. that was quick he must have some auto name sensing thing going on..

Squid

 

[piper]

Yes very quick indeed

Thank you both for your quick replies, I was just worried I had two Tiger Barb's. I'll have to keep these two partipentazona's as I doubt my LFS will take them back. I'm sure they will get along fine in a group of pentazonas.

 

[diademhill]

Yes very quick indeed

Thank you both for your quick replies, I was just worried I had two Tiger Barb's. I'll have to keep these two partipentazona's as I doubt my LFS will take them back. I'm sure they will get along fine in a group of pentazonas.

They are tiger barbs - a subspecies of Puntius (or Barbus) tetrazona.

 

[piper]

They are tiger barbs - a subspecies of Puntius (or Barbus) tetrazona.

Sorry I misread Laterals post !

Will they fin nip like tetrazonall ???

I have an african butterfly fish and a dwarf gouarmi. So if they are nippy i'll have to take them back.

 

[Lateral Line]

I said they are possibly a subspecies of Barbus tetrazona. The classification is very fluid, it depends who you read. For many years they were regarded as a species in their own right. They were then adopted as a subspecies of pentazona, and with the information presented, I accepted this.

With the benefit of having studied the living specimens, I now doubt the pentazona subspecies theory. I believe they are either a true species, or are a species/subspecies within a group which also contains tetrazona.

In my experience, they behave much more like tetrazona then the very peaceful pentazona. In that regard, I have found them to be somewhat aggressive. Physically, they are much more reminiscent of tetrazona then pentazona.

When time and space permits, I will try breeding them with both other species. Generally, subspecies will spawn with each other without issue, inter species breeding is usually difficult - it is a good way of establishing species boundaries.

I also wonder if many of these oddly marked "striped" barbs are simply chance hybrids from the very poorly managed stock in the cheaper far eastern farms.

 

[piper]

Thanks Lateral,

If they do act more like tetrazonall, might these fish well be fin nippers ??

 

[Squid]

here are my new pentazona.. which look like the one on the left of your photo..

how did you get them to staY more still.. mine are young and mental at the moment.

Squid

 

[piper]

here are my new pentazona.. which look like the one on the left of your photo..

how did you get them to staY more still.. mine are young and mental at the moment.

Squid

Looking good squid, it was luck when I took my pic.

With just 3 in the tank there not so crazy