Apistogramma abacaxis and/or wilhelmi

[Robi]

As far as I know A. wilhelmi and abacaxis are the same species, from different locations. The wilhelmi has a clear/speckled caudal fin, the abacaxis has a red caudal fin. So my story begins with a wild caught pair (loc. unknown, mixed locations). A prolific pair, spawned multiple times.

The wild caught male (P) has an interesting caudal pattern, sort of a hybrid. In his caudal fin, the upper half is clear and speckled (wilhelmi) and the lower half is red (abacaxis) - Picture.1. The female is pretty much colorless, except for her beautiful yellow brood color. In their F1 males, I noticed both variants separately, clear/speckled - Picture.2, as well as red caudal fin - Picture.3. I think I will pair the F1 males up separately with females and try to isolate both variants, but I just wanted to share the wild caught "hybrid" abacaxis/wilhelmi male story. I’ve been hybridizing different color morphs of my cacatuoides on a regular bases, but this is the first time I see it in a different species. I think the genetics of the Apistogrammas are really intriguing.

Cheers

Robi

 

[Mike Wise]

Robi, Yes, A. sp. Wilhelmi and A. sp. Abacaxis are common names for the same species - and the same collecting location. This species was introduced in 1999 in a Das Aquarium article by Horst Linke as A. sp. Wilhelmi, for Mario Wilhelm who first brought the fish into the hobby together with Linke. Ingo Koslowski (2002) considered the 'Wilhelmi' moniker to be a bad idea because people would confuse it for a valid scientific name - which it is not and too often is thought to be. Koslowski used the name A. sp. Abacaxis for the Rio Abacaxis where the first imports were collected. I agree with Koslowski and use Abacaxis, but either works. I can recognize 2 different populations/forms of A. sp. Abacaxis. The original population/form (A227), which Linke and Wilhelm collected in Lago Glemende near the village of Waledo in the middle Rio Abacaxis, shows only a few rows of spots in the middle part of the caudal. The second population/form, A. cf. sp. Abacaxix (Marimari) (A228), shows many more rows of spots, mostly in the upper half of the caudal. It is collected in the Rio Marimari, a tributary of the Rio Abacaxis. Your male is the A228 form, as are most commercially imported species right now. This is because the Marimari is easier to reach from the exporters in Manaus.

 

[Robi]

Thanks Mike for the detailed chronology and location description. I'm a little sad… when you wrote that this color morph has been described I thought, thats fine… but then you wrote this is actually the most commonly imported form nowadays… thats a crush! … just kidding, I am always eager to learn. I hope one day I can describe something new, but I'm afraid for that I'd have to join one of you guys who are collecting in SA.

If you look closely on my pictures, then my F1 male (Pic.2) with the red tale has few posts in the middle row (? A227 like) and my wild male is then the now common A288 form, with spots in the upper half. The second F1 male with clear, just spots in the caudal fin (Pic.3) is which variant Mike, also A288 I guess?

Looks like the pattern of the caudal fin inheritance in Apistos is following a similar pattern like in many other tropical fish, a co-dominant inheritance in which two types of patterns (alleles) are individually expressed in the presence of each other, it's lots of fun to study it!

 

[Mike Wise]

We really don't know much about the ranges of the 2 forms of Abacaxis because scientists haven't studied it and hobbyists aren't allowed to collect in Brazil. That leaves only the native collectors who know precisely where they collect the fish and they aren't saying. According to the DATZ book, some aquarists have reported a reduction in the number of rows of spots on the caudal fin in some A228 males as they age. Maybe your male is such an older specimen? I can't say.

I have never kept the original A227 form, only the commonly available A228 form. My males always kept most (if not all) of their spot rows as they aged (up to 3+ years old). As you write, spot rows may depend on how genes inherited from their parents mix.