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Apisto. nijsseni

D

djharkins

Guest
Neil,

I truly enjoy the website, very informative and user friendly.

Question. I purchased a pair of nijsseni's over the weekend, and I am not positive that they are a true pair. The male(?) is about 5/8" long, and the female about a 1/2". Both the male and female are yellow with black markings. The male(?) some times turns darker over the entire body and is bulkier, but hasn't shown the azure blue coloring. Also, the female's black laterial blotch only appears on one side of her body. Are these features typical of young A. nijsseni?

Thanks,
DJ
 

mordor

New Member
5 Year Member
Messages
138
Location
San Jose, CA
I haven't hem so far but my guess is that they are to small to sex them with 100% probability. You have to wait. If possible buy more of them. You will have better chance to get pair.
 

BristolCichlids

New Member
5 Year Member
Messages
10
Location
Levittown, PA
In my 2 trios I had the two males were longer/slender and pretty drab looking, except when breeding then they got the blue coloring. All 4 females had yellow in them which intensifies when they were breeding. I was able to tell when the males were at least an inch in length. I had purchased the 6 at a NJAS meeting when they were all about 1/2 inch. After 3 months the males grew quicker and you could see some blue in them. I would give them another month or 2 before you can tell what you have.
Were these the only 2 at Wolfingers or did he have more? I might stop by there tomorrow night to see what else he has in the way of Apistos.
 
D

djharkins

Guest
BristolCichlids,

Thanks. I kind of figured that I'll have to give them some more time to grow, like mordor said. The male(?) is larger, slightly different body shape and not as bright yellow as the female.

Is it normal for the female to have the black laterial blotch on one side of her body and not the other? I know that it can change from black to a greenish color, but just on one side?

Sorry, but they were the only nijsenni that Wolfingers had, but they did have other Apistos.
 

Neil

New Member
Messages
1,583
Location
Sacramento, Ca.
djharkins,
There is a lot af variability in the nijsenni complex fish (Panduro especially). It is not normal for a nijsenni to have a mark on one side of its body and not the other, but it is not unusual either.
Believe it or not, one way to tell these small fish apart is to put them in a specimen container or a fish bag and shake it around a little. The females will often show their larger splotching on the face and the body. i don't recommend this though (disclaimer!!). the better alternative is to wait until larger. They will show dimorphism, on and off, at about 3/4" - 1".
Look for the darker red half-moon on the caudal fin to be males. The blue color often doesn't show up until later. Neil
 

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