F15hguy Posted June 28, 2013 Report Share Posted June 28, 2013 I am compiling an article for the next AW and would like a few comments regarding peoples experiences with bullies behaviour to compare with what I already have. anyone want to tell me about theirs I would be very grateful any species any stories. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted June 28, 2013 Report Share Posted June 28, 2013 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullying Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted June 28, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2013 stupid answer to a non stupid question Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted June 29, 2013 Report Share Posted June 29, 2013 and I am looking for photos to assist Fi5hguy with his write up. Any clear photos accepted, preferably with ID but we are trying to cover all the bullies within the family. If you have a lot please let me know and I will set up a drop box for you to place them in. Its much quicker than trying to email high resolution MB photos Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted June 29, 2013 Report Share Posted June 29, 2013 http://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/2127 http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/freshwater-fish/page-2 I dont know if either of these might help. If anyone has kept these fish and can contribute please do so Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chopper Posted July 22, 2013 Report Share Posted July 22, 2013 I have kept numerous species of bullies over the years and still keep them now. I started keeping them when I was about 10yrs old. what I liked about them as a child was their territoriality when breeding. In my naivity I placed a giant bully or a very large common bully (back then all fish looked bigger then they were and i couldnt tell the differnce between the species when young) i caught in with some large goldfish in a 3ft tank. The bully set up shop under a large rock and then proceeded to shred the goldfish. Thinking my axolotls would fare better I placed it in their tank and it wasted them also. Having no where to keep it or no way to keep the other fish from its regular beatings I decided to let it go. Since then I have learnt much and keep all the species I have in different tanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted July 22, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2013 cheers. I have ended up with 2 tanks now, one for the juvie redfins and one big display tank that currently has one medium sized redfin and his girlfriend.(and I might steal one of my breeeding tanks soon too). I am throughly in love with them all :love: not too aggressive, pretty and they are beginning to show off, i'm currently working of weaning the tank onto pellet food and he seems to be helping the kokopu to learn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chopper Posted July 23, 2013 Report Share Posted July 23, 2013 What about Australian gobiomorphus?You could ask on the Aussie forums if you want to include those! Also a compadre of mine who used to sample fresh water inverts and fish for one of the uni's caught a Giant bully way up in the Canterbury foothills miles out of its range once . Not sure if this is any help to you but i thought I would post it for peoples interest any way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted July 23, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2013 too late written and waiting, plus it was written to promote Native fish keeping, as far as im aware there are no aussie gobies over here although I knew a few people keeping the big sleepers in Townsville the giant bully that far upstream is interesting, do you know if they wrote it up in the research they were doing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted July 23, 2013 Report Share Posted July 23, 2013 A giant bully that far inland and upland sounds extremely unlikely to me. Unless it was identified using DNA, it was probably an enthusiastically misidentified common. If I am in coastal reaches I will never say that something is conclusively a giant or common, but is probably X based on a whole range of features, unless it is over 17cm (giant) or has a colored dorsal stripe (common). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueether Posted July 24, 2013 Report Share Posted July 24, 2013 One of my commons (found 160km or over 200km inland, not sure what site it came from but probably the first) has a fin-ray count that could suggest a giant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chopper Posted July 24, 2013 Report Share Posted July 24, 2013 He told me the bully was huge and I am inclined to believe his identification considering he has 2 masters degrees and a Ph.d in ecology and has done numerous fish surveys. I will try and get hold of him and try and find out where he found it and more about it , maybe he has changed his opinion since and it was real huge common.He hasn't lived in NZ for a longtime and roughly caught it about 10yrs ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted July 24, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 24, 2013 there is always an exception to every rule, would be interesting though to find out where and go have another look and see if there is an anomolous population Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted July 24, 2013 Report Share Posted July 24, 2013 Every morphological feature of a common or giant bully can be found in the other species, apart from the giant's upper size limit and the male common's colored stripe. The other features simply have different averages in each species - on average one has darker or lighter body colour, a more or less tapered head, a higher or lower average of dorsal spines. Some giants have all the standard features of common bullies and vice versa. For visual identification you look at all the features together and the location the fish was found, and decide what it probably is. Genetics are the only precise way, and even then there is still a probability. If you look at the distribution map and the inland penetration graph here, you will see how incredibly unlikely it is that the fish in question was a giant bully, no matter how much it may look like one. https://www.niwa.co.nz/freshwater-and-e ... iant_bully I am interested to know more about who found it and how they identified it, but if it was a reliable identification it would have generated a lot of interest and there would have been further investigations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chopper Posted July 25, 2013 Report Share Posted July 25, 2013 Right I got his email and emailed him last night and he responded this morning. He said it wasn't a giant bully in the true sense but a giant as in gigantic or enormous , way bigger than the normal bullies you catch. He said he was eeling and a mate tried to spear it but it got away but they went to the spot later and caught it. So all in all it was just a monster common and it wasn't written up as it wasn't during a surveying trip.Sorry about the hassle, I apologise for my mistake! Funny thing though me mate despite all his qualifications can't find a job so works at an overseas equivalent of mitre10. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted July 26, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2013 ok, back to bully behaviour, i'm assuming that adding some giants to my 450L tank would mean that I would have to remove all the redfins (or leave them as "live food") Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted July 26, 2013 Report Share Posted July 26, 2013 It would depend on the size of the giants. Anything of edible size will likely be eaten, when it come to fish interactions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wonka Posted August 1, 2013 Report Share Posted August 1, 2013 i had some average sized, common bullies, in with a giant. the giant never interacted badly with them. in fact, the giant, was quite friendly with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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