Apistogramma agassizii Téfé Mutum ??

[FIL]

Hello,

I wanted to present a Apisto I breed for 2 years. I have some fry for several months that seem not to resemble the parents. Indeed, the person who sold me the fish says it should not be orange in the caudal fin, while almost all the fry have!

What do I think of it, is it really "Tefé mutum" or hybrid?
I hesitate to distribute this strain as the Tefé mutum

male


female



https://picasaweb.google.com/105813...iiTefeMutumAlevins?authuser=0&feat=directlink

[video=dailymotion;xl0evv]http://www.dailymotion.com/embed/video/xl0evv?[/video]



Thank you in advance for your advice.



Nicolas

 

[Mike Wise]

First, your adult fish are NOT A. agassizii. They are A. sp. Tefé - an undescribed species different from A. agassizii. There is a population of A. agassizii from the Rio Tefé, but it is visibly different from your fish. When these 2 species are crossed, the eggs are usually infertile, fry that do hatch rarely survive to adulthood, and the offspring show major deformity in the rows of scale and shape of fins. BTW I have no idea where the "Mutum" population occurs. I cannot find a location with this name anywhere in the Rio Tefé system. There is a Boca do Mutum in the middle Rio Jutai, but this is outside the Tefé system.

Second, all of the agassizii-complex species show some degree of polychromatism. A. agassizii is probably the most polychromatic apisto species known. A. sp. Tefé is not much different. Increased red/orange color is not uncommon in tank bred fish when fed foods with a lot of carotenes, like brine shrimp. It is my guess that this extra red/orange on the fish is due to such foods.

Therefore, your fish are A. sp. Tefé (Mutum) and are not a hybrid of 2 species.

 

[FIL]

Thank you Mike,
Would it be possible to have a picture of the Apistogramma agassizii region Tefé so I can differentiate my sp. Tefé of Apisto agassizii region Tefé ?
Is there a physical characteristic that differentiates them?

Nicolas

 

[Mike Wise]

A. sp. Tefe shows wavy horizontal lines on the body. The population of A. agassizii from the Rio Tefe looks like the typical A. agassizii - no wavy lines on the body. They are very easy to differentiate. I have photos of the A. agassizii from the Rio Tefe. They are not mine, but a French apistophile's. I cannot distribute them.

 

[FIL]

I find it hard to make a difference because when I look at the photo of the Apistogramma sp. Tefé DATZ of the A243, I do not see any similarity other than the horizontal wavy lines. The color of my fish looks very different. In addition, the dorsal fin of my Apistogramma is not colored while the DATZ, it is!
I am reading your article http://apisto.sites.no/page.aspx?PageId=116 to help me better identify my Apistogramma but not easy: - /
My friends have a hard time believing me when I told them that he is not a agassizii. How can I convince them without errors.

thank you

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I do not see any similarity other than the horizontal wavy lines. The color of my fish looks very different. In addition, the dorsal fin of my Apistogramma is not colored while the DATZ, it is!
I am reading your article http://apisto.sites.no/page.aspx?PageId=116 to help me better identify my Apistogramma but not easy:

You need to try and ignore colour and concentrate on the markings, A. agassizii are polychromatic and the males can be a range of colours. Have a look at the A. agassizii examples on Tom C's pages A234 to A242. <http://apisto.sites.no/slekt.aspx?gruppeID=1>.

cheers Darrel

 

[Mike Wise]

You need to try and ignore colour and concentrate on the markings

Amen! Color on most apistos is not a diagnostic character.

 

[FIL]

Ok, I will concentrate on the markings.

Thanks

Nicolas