Its name is Aphanius mento, and it is a small, one to two inch fish that inhabits the densely vegetated regions of freshwater in Turkey and nearby countries. One male colors up in the colony, while the rest remain submissive and have a less intense coloration.
The reason why I'm bringing this up is because this is a photo of Aphanius mento: http://www.seriously...in Feshka 1.JPG
And this is a photo of Elassoma gilberti: http://gallery.nanfa...ze_001.jpg.html
This is a subdominant Elassoma gilberti: http://gallery.nanfa...ze_002.jpg.html
And this an Aphanius mento: http://www.israquari...anius mento.jpg
It's really interesting to me that two fish can be so distantly related and be so similar.
The major difference that I see is their aggression. Aphanius mento is an evil little bugger, with dominant males sometimes wiping out subdominant males and females alike if the tank is too crowded. Elassoma gilberti is super shy, and although the dominant male will flap its fins at a subdominant male and sometimes rush at it, they never actually hurt one another and the females are definitely never involved.
Edit: Oh, also, it looks like the male Aphanius mento will eat its eggs. Male Elassoma gilberti guard theirs from harm. That's another difference.
Edited by EricaWieser, 14 August 2011 - 02:02 PM.