One of my sister's students appeared in her lab on Friday with a pic n mix bag of fish - get this - so my sister could put them in the lab tank as pupil about to go on holiday and otherwise they would be flushed
We have been trying to sort them out (I am not there, my sister is not there to take photos until Monday, she has been describing them to me) - all have ID and plans except one she describes as looking 'something like a black and grey angel fish but not an angel fish' ... I am well stuck. It is apparently not a black widow tetra. Mid to upper water preferred. No barbels. Round rather than torpedo shaped body.
Any ideas please so I can refer her to photos online until she can get back to school to photograph it??

Maybe a stressed out Gourami of some sort? Thinking of the long pectoral feeler fins which are similar to those on an Angel The blue/opaline Three Spot Gourami can go very dark when stressed.

EDIT: Two scary possibilties are young Discus or Severum. Both can go very dark indeed when stressed and produce a stripy pattern (stress bars). Discus also have the modified pectorals that Angels have.

OMG please no ... Gourami seems more likely, surely discus and severum are sufficiently expensive to deter impulse purchase by school student .... I have sent her pic of gourami to consider, watch this space.
She will be in lfs tomorrow swapping the red tailed black shark that was in the bag and the solitary rummy nosed tetra for some platies to join her existing group. The solitary danio is coming here asap.

Still looks like a tetra to me peering at gloomy picture on phone which is what I first thought from her description but what do I know - she said no to BWT (no 'skirt') ... see if I can upload the photo ... Black phantom tetra maybe?

It looks a bit of an odd shape on pic but yes, that's the nearest match I can think of. Almost suggested that but to me it's so not like an Angel that I ruled it out

She says bingo!

Quote:


indeed, I think she was trying to convey the arc of the dorsal fin (in her defence she's very good on ID of what to me are just little brown birds - on the fish front normally she just supervises year 7's maintenance of platies' tank )

Black phantom for sure