Hemigrammus rhodostomus vs hemigrammus blerheri?

[iloveshramp]

I have some true rummy nose tetras (Hemigrammus rhodostomus) and decided to add to my school and picked up three more recently. When I got home, I realized they look pretty different from my rummy's and did some investigating. What I got is definitely Hemigrammus bleheri - firehead tetras but also sometimes called rummy nose tetras.

I'm wondering if anybody has experience with the difference in these guys. My new bleheri's are much larger than my rummy's and so far, seem more aggressive to my other fish in the tank. Google did say bleheri's are usually bigger, but is it common for them to be more aggressive?

I'm honestly a little put out and feel like I got duped - am I overreacting?

 

[charliebankston]

No, while it seems like a common practice, it's frustrating that breeders and retailers both use names that aren't accurate to sell fish. I have 2 cichlids right now that were sold to me under a cooler sounding name, but that's not what they actually were. Gold Saum/Green Terror and Pearlscale/Electric blue Texas. I knew the difference, but often, as in your case, it's hard to know/ tell. Sometimes maybe ever. And then you have a bad experience with those fish that you could possibly pass along to others being helpful and in reality it wasn't even the same fish.

 

[charliebankston]

And to be fair, most fish stores probably don't know either. They label and sell what they are told they bought

 

[charliebankston]

Now I'm gonna look at my rummys and see. Just curious. I didn't know there were other species like that

 

[iloveshramp]

Hmm, after doing more reading and getting replies on some other forums, it seems like it is common practice to sell H. bleheri under the name rummy nose tetra. It seems like a widely accepted common name for them. To me that is a little frustrating, probably because I do ecology work, use scientific names, and really note distinction between species. But, I didn't know the difference when buying, now I know! And more importantly, the aggressive behavior when I first had them seems to have subsided. Maybe they were stressed when added to a new tank? Sigh. Let me know what rummy's you have! I found this picture (https://i.redd.it/pamn0ouegvq31.jpg) most helpful in distinguishing - note the subtle difference between red on the two Hemigrammus, and the lack of black spot on Petitilla.