THE ANGELFISH LOCUS

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Green Leopard with excellent symmetry

 

Black Lace with Off-Set Symmetry

The Green Leopard of ours has excellent lines of symmetry on its caudal fin, dorsal and anal fin. The fins look strong and straight.

The centre of the eye is almost on the centre line and other than the ventral breast plate the two halves of the body are almost a mirror image. (note – most Angelfish bred in the USA that I have fish-boned have their eye set above the centre line). An eye set too high or low makes the fish look deformed.

Its ventral fins are not the preferred form being wide at the top and are not the curved sweeping shape we like.

 

The Black Lace, in tank, looked stunning as it glided around - Its fin shape is good and straight, however it lacks the perfect symmetry of the Green Leopard. Its anal fin is rear offset to the dorsal.  This offset flows through to the convergence of the caudal fin lines. Additionally, the tail droops below the centre line.

Its eye is in good position and its ventral fins have perfect width and form.

The rear offset of anal fin is common in domestic Angelfish and with good shaped fins makes an Angelfish look like a racy dart in the water.

Green Leopard with excellent symmetry

Want to become a Judge certified to adjudicate Angelfish at National Competitions?

 Introduction—Elegance and Symmetry

These pages will become one document that will serve three main purposes.

1. Provide guidance into contemporary thinking in Judging Angelfish at National and International competition level.

2. Provide a standards benchmark for judging Angelfish.

3.   Provide information, on which, potential judges will be examined  to obtain certification from NewSAS  and its affiliated organizations.

 

All who contribute to these Standards will receive full acknowledgement for their part in making history in the Angelfish World.

Like us, the British Angelfish Association is young, dynamic and progressive. We hope to create and enjoy fellowship and strong ties with them and others such as Jan (watermillman) as we all seek a more informative and changing Angelfish World.

The learning points are not in order of priority, but will be chosen each edition at random the first being Elegance. Elegance is what Angelfish are known for most followed by Wow factor

Other sections will appear in the forum as they are completed. Contributors are welcome.

 

What should a Judge in Angelfish Competitions know and consider in their deliberations as far as Elegance is concerned?

 

Elegance of form – Elegance is a visual judgment of the fish looking at four main factors.

             a.   The fishes conformation to several key physical body and fin standards

             b.    The symmetry within the fishes overall look.

             c.     How the fish holds itself and moves in the tank (or in a photograph or short video)

              d.    The judges personal preference

 

Let’s take a look at a fishbone chart of two fish. The fish bone chart is a very easy tool to learn about Symmetry, body and fin standards and can be created on MS Word, Excel and most other drawing programs like Corel.

An Angelfish can have 3 levels of symmetry, a) Symmetrical, b) Offset Symmetry and c) Non-Symmetrical.  a) will gain higher points rather than c)

 

Fish bone symmetry can be accomplished with a trained eye, it’s as simple as drawing an imaginary line through the centre of the fish from nose to tail as shown and then mentally noting various key convergence points of the fish around the centre line.

 

The Green Leopard of ours has excellent lines of symmetry on its caudal fin, dorsal and anal fin. The fins look strong and straight.

The centre of the eye is almost on the centre line and other than the ventral breast plate the two halves of the body are almost a mirror image. (note – most Angelfish bred in the USA that I have fish-boned have their eye set above the centre line). An eye set too high or low makes the fish look deformed.

Now insert a shape overlay on the body which is slightly oval and typical of a lot of domestic Angelfish appears. This oval forms the marker to measure a wide range of body, body to fin ratio’s and angles which will be important information for judging online and possibly pedigree information.

 

An individual seeking to become certified to Judge at international level may be expected to show competency in knowing body height to length ratio’s, various fin ratios and be conversant in Fibonacci’s  Golden Ratio’s and Angles and how they apply to Angelfish.

These relative measurements and angles can be made using a free shareware down load of the MB screen protractor and ruler at http://www.markus-bader.de/MB-Ruler/

Don’t be scared by the terms, a basic understanding is easily picked up, is empowering and very rewarding.

Any one wanting a lay-mans perspective  PM or e-mail me at peterbottle@hotmail.com

My complete thanks go to Ken Kennedy for introducing me to Fibonacci’s work and lighting up another dark recess of my mind.

Pete Bottle