Several new forms/species of Apistogramma have been collected in Colombia the last months, and some of them have reached my tanks.
I will not reveal anything about the collecting locations, I have therefor given them the preliminary names Apistogramma sp. "D1" to Apistogramma sp. "D6".
Two species/forms with very clear yellow pectoral fins:
The Apistogramma sp. "D2" usually looks quite grey / dull:
Male:
Female:
A couple of days ago I noticed two males displaying;
I thought for a moment that I had got some new fishes!: A significant change of appearance:
The Apistogramma sp. "D2b" got it's preliminary name because I first thought it was the same species / form as the D2, until a certain American apistophile with a well-developed "taxonomic eye" made me aware of the two form's significant different caudal spot.
Male:
Female:
The Apistogramma sp. "D3", although collected in Colombia, is a fish that seems to be closely related to Apistogramma (cf.) payaminonis.
I have two color forms of males, said to have been collected at the same location:
In 2012, we collected an Apistogramma cf. payaminonis form in Peru, in the Rio Napo drainage, near the village Pantoja and the border Peru/Ecuador. They don't look THAT different from the "D3":
although their locations are far away from each other, and separated by many huge rivers.
The females of the Apistogramma cf. payaminonis form from Pantoja, Peru, look like this when breeding:
The single flank spot is one of the differences with the females of the true Apistogramma payaminonis (from the type locality); their females show an extra flank spot on vertical bar 4.
Now females of the Apistogramma sp. "D3" are breeding, and amazingly, they appear like this:
They show the extra flank spot on bar 4, just like the true Apistogramma payaminonis from the type locality! So I think the Colombian form might be taxonomically closer to the true Apistogramma payaminonis than the Peruvian form we collected in Pantoja, in 2012.
I will not reveal anything about the collecting locations, I have therefor given them the preliminary names Apistogramma sp. "D1" to Apistogramma sp. "D6".
Two species/forms with very clear yellow pectoral fins:
The Apistogramma sp. "D2" usually looks quite grey / dull:
Male:
Female:
A couple of days ago I noticed two males displaying;
I thought for a moment that I had got some new fishes!: A significant change of appearance:
The Apistogramma sp. "D2b" got it's preliminary name because I first thought it was the same species / form as the D2, until a certain American apistophile with a well-developed "taxonomic eye" made me aware of the two form's significant different caudal spot.
Male:
Female:
The Apistogramma sp. "D3", although collected in Colombia, is a fish that seems to be closely related to Apistogramma (cf.) payaminonis.
I have two color forms of males, said to have been collected at the same location:
In 2012, we collected an Apistogramma cf. payaminonis form in Peru, in the Rio Napo drainage, near the village Pantoja and the border Peru/Ecuador. They don't look THAT different from the "D3":
although their locations are far away from each other, and separated by many huge rivers.
The females of the Apistogramma cf. payaminonis form from Pantoja, Peru, look like this when breeding:
The single flank spot is one of the differences with the females of the true Apistogramma payaminonis (from the type locality); their females show an extra flank spot on vertical bar 4.
Now females of the Apistogramma sp. "D3" are breeding, and amazingly, they appear like this:
They show the extra flank spot on bar 4, just like the true Apistogramma payaminonis from the type locality! So I think the Colombian form might be taxonomically closer to the true Apistogramma payaminonis than the Peruvian form we collected in Pantoja, in 2012.
