A sp tefe or A agassizii [female]

[Claire Bou]

Hi!
I bought those two as wild caught agassizii but I have been told that the male is an A. sp tefe. But I don't know about the female, I heard it is a bit tricky to distinguish agassizii females from sp tefe.
I have a female agassizii (true one) in the tank and she seems really interested in the male but not the other way around... The two arrived a week and half ago.
I posted two pictures of the male and a few of the female (sorry for the quality of the female's pictures, she is not very cooperative.... if needed I can try to make some more).

Thank you for your help!

 

[Im a Doughball]

I'm not sure if anyone is going to be much help, I think thats a tough call to make. If they spawn, and you get fry that are numerous, and viable, she is sp. tefe, if they spawn, and you get very few fry that aren't viable/healthy, she is probably agassizii? Thats about the best I can come up with

 

[Mike Wise]

Hi Claire, I have kept apistos for 40+ years and am pretty good at identifying apistos - even females. But I must admit that I cannot see any visible difference between females of A. agassizii and A. sp. Tefé. This is the main reason that breeding original imports of A. sp. Tefé were unsuccessful and/or produced many fish with deformed scale patterns (a feature commonly seen in apisto hybrids). The early collectors mixed A. agassizii from the lower Rio Tefé with A. sp. Tefé from farther up-river (Lago Tefé region). Once it was determined that A. sp. Tefé was a different species collectors (usually) take more care keeping their collections separate.

 

[Claire Bou]

Thank you both of you!
I'll see and cross my finger

Do you know if the agassizii and the sp tefe are found on the same locations or not? If I understand correctly the agassizii Tefé come from the lower part of the river and the sp Tefé from the upper part (Lago Tefé).
The male and the female where caught on the same spot so if they are not found in the same places, she should be sp tefe...

 

[Im a Doughball]

Not to throw another wrench in the plan, but if memory serves, I seem to recall reading a paper/article that seemed to imply there were agassizii "tefe", sp tefe I, and sp. tefe II. I am not sure if the conclusions reached in that paper still hold true. Good luck, update when you have news?

 

[Claire Bou]

Indeed there are Tefé I and Tefé II (both belonging to the agassizii specie) I think
but apparently this male is a sp Tefé (the line on the below and above the lateral line).
For now I try to rehome my female agassizii, and she is the boss in the tank and the male doesn't like her. So as long as she is here, I will not have any fry.... Hope I can find her a new home soon... And then if I get the male and the small female to spawn I will post about it

 

[Mike Wise]

Everything I've seen indicates that A. agassizii (Tefé) - the holotype form of A. agassizii - is not found with A. sp. Tefé.

 

[Claire Bou]

Cool, it means chances are high that the female is a sp Tefé. And if I purchased another female from the same catch she will also most likely be a sp. Tefé (they are in a 200l 90*50 so there is enough room for 2 females).

Thank you!

 

[Claire Bou]

Hi!
Some update!
The female has lay eggs and they have hatch! No free swimming yet but I think it should be in two days

 

[Claire Bou]

Today is the first free swimming day. The female has a lot of babies which would suggest that she is a sp. tefé as the male

There are more young than what we see on the picture but the lens has a limited depth of focus!