Please tell me these are GSPs

[purplecandle]

I started my own thread so that the OP of the other thread could get answers to his questions. It was rude of me to hijack.

Ok here is a video..I have the two questionable GSPs in with the normal looking GSPs for the sake of comparison..I promise they do not live together!..you can tell they are a little awkward together

Excuse the tank, I had to clear out a spot big enough for all of them to eat..

I know the one that keeps coming to the glass looks thin, he has been treated for IPs, he is just a slow eater and does not like the company of the 2 extra GSPs ( I fed him extra later)...I put the two questionable GSPs in huggle's tank because she has white gravel and I thought it would show the differences better...

The two questionable GSPs do not have such a labyrinth pattern..but I am sure you will still see the differences...

ok, give this a look...and PLEASE tell me these 2 are just regular GSPs that look a little different..I do not need anything with the nickname of Giant!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzONcFdiGhI

[Nick]

Interesting, quite some pattern variation there, and a bit of head shape variation. I'm not good enough with IDs to say much of anything for sure other than that I think regular GSPs are probably at least two, possibly more nearly indistinguishable species with different max sizes and growth rates.

[pufferpuggirl]

Hey Purple, I have 2 GSP's and mine resemble yours quite alot. I've got one, "Ying", that's got very large spots, like the 2 of yours, and then I have "Yang" who has some larger spots and then lots of smaller spots, like the other 2 of yours. Thing is, it's Ying that's growing so quickly. And when I thought mine might be a bit different than your basic GSP, I believe that it was Corvus (I could be wrong) who said that he thought it's possible for GSP's coming from different regions to show those sort of differences. But the general consensus was that they were indeed GSP's, not Sabahensis or any other species.
I'm not saying for sure what yours are, or are not ... but just thought they looked very similar to my two and thought I would share what was said about mine.

**PS - I love the way yours are all sort of taking turns to get a bit of that shellfish **

[Hilly]

2 display the typical GSP look, I would say the 2 darker ones have potential to grow with different spotty patterns from the regular GSP patterns. At this size you cant say for certain, youll just have to wait and see. I would treat as GSP and care for accordingly. Nice pickup.

[DarkStorm]

they sure are cute

[Myaj]

Wow, tough call. The one displaying bright green is your standard GSP. Of the other three, man.. I'd say the skinny one is likely a Sab, and the other two also seem to have the longer nose and darker, blotchy color you see on a lot of Sabs.

But I don't really think the difference gets obvious until they are older, so at that size, its hard to say for sure!

But thanks for the video, I know have a better idea of how to feed mussles!!!

[purplecandle]

They love those mussels...and they will chew on the shell too which is a plus..but mussels shells are pretty hard so if you puffs are little I would open it for them a little so they do not break teeth...

Just be careful, one mussel can feed a lot of puffs!

When I first started using them, I would thaw out 4 at a time and end up wasting them...

Now, I thaw out two..after washing leftovers, I pass them to other tanks and then whatever is left from the puffs I put in my pleco's tank and he eats them like candy...

I do not know how he does that..I do not think he has teeth...but, if he sees me approaching his tank and it looks like I have a mussel he will come out of hiding!

[Corvus]

I believe what we call GSP or T. nigroviridis may truly be a small number of regional variations, subspecies or even species.
Will be interesting to see these puffers grow.
Keep us updated.

[nmonks]

As Corvus indicates, identifying GSPs visually isn't reliable. Scientists maintain that you cannot identify the two recognised species without performing DNA work. Since the two species (as traded) are essentially identical in care, don't worry about it. Just enjoy the fish you have.

It's probably a lot like bumblebee gobies, which are essentially identifiable only as Brachygobius spp. whilst alive. I'm told by a respected goby scientist that virtually every photograph of a bumblebee goby in the aquarium literature is misidentified, i.e., the name it's given is the wrong one, and those that do have the right names do so only be sheer chance!

Cheers, Neale

[purplecandle]

Ok, I will play the waiting game...

I guess I will know there is a major difference if they out grow their tanks in a short period of time:)