There is much information on the common name; Clown Knife Fish. However, if you were to look at the scientific name of the species, you may discover that there are two different names for this commonly available fish…Chitala Chitala and Chitala Ornata.
If you were to research them, Chitala Chitala is listed as endangered. How is an endangered fish so commonly available in the trade? It’s not. The easiest way to tell the difference between them is the gold/silver transverse on the dorsum. What does that mean? Here are some visuals to help (being so rare in the hobby...I googled these pictures).
As you can see, the markings on the back are faint, but it’s there. Some have said that it’s the flash of the camera, but the markings are visibly there even without the flash. Some of these pictures are without flash, I believe. Also, the ocellaris on Chitala Chitala are small and few. They seem more like “freckling” than spots. As for the actual availability of this species…I don’t believe that these are available in the pet trade due to its status.
Chitala Ornata is what you would normally see at the pet stores. The large ocellaris and lack of gold/silver transverse is what is differs from Chitala Chitala. However, these patterns can vary from spotless, a few spots to many spots, small spots to large spots, and even flower patterns. There is even a golden color morph of a Clown Knife that is available (and these are pictures of one that I used to have myself).
I’m sure that there are more definite ways to tell the difference between the two species if you want to break it down scientifically and do ray counts, scale counts, river locations, etc, etc. As an average hobbyist, I’m not going to lie…I really don’t care. All I know is that I love Clown Knives for their appearance and interesting behavior. After all…it’s just fun and I don’t plan on being the Know-it-all of Know-it-alls.
If you were to research them, Chitala Chitala is listed as endangered. How is an endangered fish so commonly available in the trade? It’s not. The easiest way to tell the difference between them is the gold/silver transverse on the dorsum. What does that mean? Here are some visuals to help (being so rare in the hobby...I googled these pictures).
As you can see, the markings on the back are faint, but it’s there. Some have said that it’s the flash of the camera, but the markings are visibly there even without the flash. Some of these pictures are without flash, I believe. Also, the ocellaris on Chitala Chitala are small and few. They seem more like “freckling” than spots. As for the actual availability of this species…I don’t believe that these are available in the pet trade due to its status.
Chitala Ornata is what you would normally see at the pet stores. The large ocellaris and lack of gold/silver transverse is what is differs from Chitala Chitala. However, these patterns can vary from spotless, a few spots to many spots, small spots to large spots, and even flower patterns. There is even a golden color morph of a Clown Knife that is available (and these are pictures of one that I used to have myself).
I’m sure that there are more definite ways to tell the difference between the two species if you want to break it down scientifically and do ray counts, scale counts, river locations, etc, etc. As an average hobbyist, I’m not going to lie…I really don’t care. All I know is that I love Clown Knives for their appearance and interesting behavior. After all…it’s just fun and I don’t plan on being the Know-it-all of Know-it-alls.
better make it faat
