2 Apistos to ID

[HaakonH]

I was sent 2 different species of Apisto from my supplier the other day, he didn't have a name for them except A.sp."Colombia" and A.sp."Belem". Both are wilds. I'm thinking A.iniridae for the Colombian one, and perhaps A.caetei for the Brazilian one from Belem?

 

[Melanochromis]

I'm making a baseless guess to say they are Steel Blue and iniridae.

 

[HaakonH]

Well, if so then the steel blue is a wild type and comes from Belem...which is not likely But thanks for your input!

Haakon

 

[Melanochromis]

Hahaha. I'd bet some people think there are "wild Steel Blue" out there.

On a side note, what is the difference between a really colored up caetei specimen and a Steel Blue? I keep a group of all-male Steel Blue and the less colorful ones in my tank look like the right fish in your first picture. I never saw a real caetei though, so I don't really know the difference.

 

[aquaticclarity]

I'd agree on the the Colombian fish being A. iniridae.

Now the funny thing on the Brazil fish...I got in a bag of wild A. caetei from the Catae River last fall. Once the fish were in a tank I would have sworn they were A. sp. "Steel Blue"! Or at least one of the base fish for sp. "Steel Blue" if it truly is a man mad fish. I kept back a few of them and they spawn pretty easily. They are in a tank with bad glass so I may have to move them to get some pictures. Now the funny part. I had a friend stop by to get some fish and supplies and she was in need of some female sp. "Steel Blue" for a male she had. She took a few female caetei Catae (I also had caetei from another location at the time but they never settled in but did look different). Her male killed one of the females within a few days but has since spawned with the remaining female multiple times resulting in fry that are currently growing out. I'm in line to get some of those fry so I can compare them to the wild stock I have. We may never know for sure but if sp. "steel blue" is a legitimate species found in the wild then it may very well be caetei from Catae.

 

[Mike Wise]

The reason I don't think that Haakon's Belem fish A. caetei is that A. caetei (and all other caetei-complex species/forms) develop a strongly cross-striped caudal fin pattern. Haakon's fish appear to have an unpatterned caudal fin. Most Steel-blue specimens show some type of caudal pattern, but not all.

 

[HaakonH]

Interesting. I will try to get better photos tomorrow, in the meantime here's another couple of shots:

 

[HaakonH]

I forgot to bring my camera to work today, but I can confirm that they have no pattern whatsoever in their caudal.

 

[HaakonH]

I took some better photos today, hopefully they can make a proper ID possible. Could they be a nice form of A.taeniata? Does this species occur around Belem?

Haakon

 

[Mike Wise]

Good photos. The first is very helpful. Notice how strongly the vertical bars curve/bow compared to bars on most apistos. This is a diagnostic feature of A. sp. Wangenflecken (a resticulosa-complex species). Back in the late 70s/early 80s we got 'A. resticulosa' (what we thought it was back then) with a lot of metallic blue and red on the head. Your fish seem to be similar to this population (if not the same), but a bit more colorful. This fish is known to occur on the Ilha de Marajó, the large island that separates the mouth of the Amazon from the mouth of the Rio Tocantins. Most Marajó fish are exported from Belem.

 

[HaakonH]

Mike to the rescue again, thank you very much I was actually looking at A.sp."Wangenflecken" in the DATZ book earlier today, and it seems like you're spot on!

Haakon

 

[Mike Wise]

Sigh, what are you people going to do without me for a month while I'm in Peru next month? Don't ask TomC for help. I'll be going with him! Eat your hearts out.

 

[Melanochromis]

So it's not only a beautiful wild-type fish, but also an unusual species (I don't know if Wangenflecken is considered unusual or not, but I just never heard of it before). Lucky you!

Sigh, what are you people going to do without me for a month while I'm in Peru next month? Don't ask TomC for help. I'll be going with him! Eat your hearts out.

Wish you a lot of fun there. And please bring back some interesting fish or at least take a lot of pictures to show us

 

[aquaticclarity]

Sigh, what are you people going to do without me for a month while I'm in Peru next month? Don't ask TomC for help. I'll be going with him! Eat your hearts out.

I guess the rest of us will just have to step up our game for a while! Just make sure you make it back from your trip so you can correct our mistakes...

 

[Ttw]

I guess the rest of us will just have to step up our game for a while! Just make sure you make it back from your trip so you can correct our mistakes...

 

[Ttw]

That's odd. I must of clicked the wrong button. Meant to ask Mike if he knew where he would be collecting.

 

[HaakonH]

Ah yes, for a month everybody on here will be led to believe they have something completely different than what they actually have! I will do my part though, but yeah I'm sure we'll leave a mess for you to deal with when you return What part of Peru are you going to this time?

 

[Mike Wise]

Travel in the Amazon is always subject to change. It really depends on transportation availability, water levels and ... Still Tom & I have some plans. One will be streams north of Orán, but we really want to travel up the Río Curaray toward Ecuador. Julio Melgar will be with us on this trip. The Curaray isn't really collected commercially nor scientifically. Little is known of the fish in the region. We hope to find some interesting fish.

 

[HaakonH]

Sounds really exciting, Mike. Seems like the Peru/Ecuador border area is a hotspot for new fish these days, so I wouldn't be surprised if you found something brand new. I would love to see pics of Loricariids and Characins you find as well, but I know you'll be pretty focused on other stuff Nice to hear Julio Melgar will be with you. I wish you a great trip, looking forward to the report!

Haakon

 

[Gwendal]

I guess could be A. combrae.






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