Apisto ID

[Goat]

Hey guys brand new to the forum, first post and all.
Just wanted to know the ID on these apistos, they were sold to me as Apistogramma Gephyra not sure if they are wild caught or captive bred.
There appeared to be both blue and yellow variants in the tank.

Last pic is of a female, sorry bout the shoddy quality of it.

Cheers

 

[ste12000]

They look like a nice wild A.agassizi to me.. Very nice fish and welcome to the forum..

 

[hapaluku]

Hello and welkom to the forum.
Beautiful pic you got there.

 

[bigbird]

Hi and welcome to the forum, yes nice pics and agree look like Agassizi too me. cheers jk :biggrin:

 

[Mike Wise]

I agree with the others- a form of A. agassizii. It looks like one of the forms from the southern tributaries of the lower Amazon (A. cf. agassizii Broad Black Caudal Seam).

 

[briztoon]

G'day Mike,

I bought a pair of these apistogramma as well from the same LFS. Thanks for the ID. When you say southern tributaries of the lower Amazon, do these include the Rio Tapajos and Rio Xingu? Would you be able to give us some examples of the types of rivers and creeks where they might be found, and whether they are found in Black water systems or White/Clear water systems.

Thanks for any information you could provide.

These apistogramma came in a shipment that was a mixture of the wild caught apistos from Peru and aquarium bred apistos.

Peter

 

[Mike Wise]

The Broad Black Caudal Seam form is found in tributaries of the lower courses of most major southern rivers from the Rio Madeira to the mouth of the Amazon. This of course includes the Xingu and Tapajós among others. Most of these streams are clearwater, but some streams have sources in jungle areas and tend to be black/clearwater.

 

[gingerbeer]

Hi Mike,

The only ID locality ID for these fish is Columbia (narrows it down a little?)

Does this question the broad black caudal stream ID?

I have not bought this species but have asked the people who hae to keep an eye on the lateral line of displaying males/ females in the hope of getting more info.

You may be interested in following on the local conversation on the ID of these here. http://www.qldaf.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=21215

Steve

 

[bettamuse]

Some of this group of fish have an unusual colour pattern at times. I think they are females as they are a spitting image of the subdominant female colouration in this article on A.gephyra. I have never seen an A.agassizii female look like this but then again I've never seen the Broad Black Caudal Seam form before either, do their females have a similar subdominate colour range?
http://www.dwarfcichlid.com/Apistogramma_gephyra.php

Cheers
Todd

 

[Mike Wise]

Steve (Gingerbeer), if these fish are actually from Colombia, then they are neither A. gephyra nor A. cf. agassizii (BBCS). A. gephyra is only found in the lower to middle Rio Negro. The paratype specimen from the Rio Santarém is a closely related form (A. cf. gephyra "Santarém"). A. cf. agassizii (BBCS) is only found in southern tributaries of the lower Amazon. I checked my photos of fish that TomC and I collected around Leticia Colombia as well as the pair I have at home. All of the males show a noticeably narrower black caudal edge than do your fish. Populations are somewhat variable so I guess anything is possible.

Todd (Bettamuse), females of what we call "A. agassizii" show variation in brood/display dress. For example, my female A. agassizii from the Leticia area shows a continuous lateral band at all times - including when brooding fry. Only when extremely aggressive does it shrink to the lateral spot. Females of most 'type' forms of A. agassizii will reduce the lateral band to a lateral spot when in brood dress. But I also have a population of A. cf. agassizii (BBCS) "Madeira". The females show the same brood pattern as my Leticia A. agassizii - continuous lateral band in brood dress most of the time.

 

[Apistomaster]

These are rather plain colored A.agassizi.
Almost all the wild varieties have more color than this form. I have a few of these myself and was disappointed how dull looking they turned out to be compared to all the other wild agassizi I have kept.