Today In The Fishroom~2/28/11 Paratheraps zonatus

I was taking photos of my P. zonatus.  Really a great looking fish...and an excellent wet pet.  You can see that he doesn't miss many meals.





He does his fair share of glass banging.  I was trying to get a picture of hi hitting the glass.  The challenge of course it to time when he will hit the glass.  Generally by the time you see him doing it and hit the button...it's too late.  I had to second guess when he was going to turn and strike.  I took a couple dozen shots and got a few.

Here he is with his lips partially flattened against the glass.



My brother was visiting and commented on the fish's dentition.



Same shot only cropped tighter.  You can see the small teeth along the inside of his lip.



The anatomy of the jaw is really amazing.  We were discussing the difference between the positioning of the teeth in relationship to the types of foods that they eat...predatory fish having pseudocanines as opposed to the smaller teeth in fish like the zonatus.  Here's a link to how the jaws of the fish work:  http://www.amnh.org/learn/pd/fish_2/fish_skull/index.html

And a close up side shot to show the external structure of the jaw of the zonatus.



I wanted to get a better shot of the open mouth.  Using my standard three flash set up worked well to illuminate the fish, but cast the mouth somewhat in a shadow.  The Nikon gives you the option to shoot in commander mode and either add flash from the camera using the TTL function, on manual, or none at all.  Most often I add a 1/128 power fill to the shot.  For the photos below I use the TTL (through the lens) setting adding a nice "dollop" of light to the front of the fish...and the inside of the mouth.





The end result was a win-win for me.  I can see how utilizing this new light set up works better for getting macro shots.  If you consider the function of the jaw  in relationship to the positioning of the teeth....you can see how they would be more efficient in scraping and rasping rather than that of the more predatory cichlids.

Excellent documentation. 

What a great fish, Mo. Thank you for sharing your photos.

Thank you for being gracious hosts.

This is amazing pictures. Thx. And I wish healthy fishes

Plus one more from same session the other day.

What I love most about this fish is the thick dark lines following the eyes and the soft blue blotch at the snout. Gives him a very cool look!

What a beautiful fish ... Thanks for this photos Mo ...

Teşekkürler! Ben tür sözler için teşekkür ederiz.

These were actually taken last week.  As I was filing my RAW images I saw that I forgot to process these.  I think they are probably three of the best that I've taken of this fish.  For this I used only one key light offset to the right of the fish.  I used a reflector on the bottom of the tank and bounced light up from the bottom...slightly illuminating the fish.  I think the overall effect is more dramatic.

Mr. Devlin, you're responsible for creating Zonatum fetish in this forum.(Just Kidding)