Apistogramma borelli - do I have a boy and a girl? :)

[Decay]

Hi everyone,

I didn't have much luck with my borellii pair because males kept dying, and the one that I think is a female keeps surviving Suspicious right?

Anyway I finally bought another one, but it's very young so now I don't know if I have a male and a female or two females or what.

Here's the video so please tell me what do you think.

Thanks!

 

[Decay]

Maybe a photo can help. Does this look like a young male?

 

[Karin]

I think the blue speckles in the face indicates male... lets wait for the experts to tell.

 

[Decay]

I think the blue speckles in the face indicates male... lets wait for the experts to tell.

Thanks Karin,

I believe so too. But time will tell for sure, when he grows up.

 

[Mike Wise]

Most likely a male, but definitely not A. borellii. It is A. sp. Steel-blue.

 

[Karin]

good to know.

 

[Karin]

looked different to me...

 

[MickeM]

Hi everyone,

I didn't have much luck with my borellii pair because males kept dying, and the one that I think is a female keeps surviving Suspicious right?

Anyway I finally bought another one, but it's very young so now I don't know if I have a male and a female or two females or what.

Here's the video so please tell me what do you think.

Thanks!

But the "female" in the video is a borelli !! (Have a look and compare the lateral bands/lateral spots+ the caudal spots !!)

 

[Decay]

Most likely a male, but definitely not A. borellii. It is A. sp. Steel-blue.

Thanks a lot Mike, I think u r right. I've just read an artical about these Apistogrammas and they believe it is a mix of Apistogramma resticulosa and A. borellii. Or A. caetei.

Either way does this mean that maybe my female A. borelli can indeed pair up with this mail even though it is A. sp. Steel-blue?

p.s. Also, thank you MickeM

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

But the "female" in the video is a borelli !! (Have a look and compare the lateral bands/lateral spots+ the caudal spots !!)

But is it a female? my guess would be male borelli (with the traditional disclaimer that I'm really poor at these sex/ID threads).

cheers Darrel

 

[Mike Wise]

Video isn't good enough for me to ID the first fish. A. sp. Steel-blue is often sold as A. borellii, but they are different species from different species-complexes. I doubt that Steel-blue can cross with A. borellii and produce viable fry.

 

[Decay]

Video isn't good enough for me to ID the first fish. A. sp. Steel-blue is often sold as A. borellii, but they are different species from different species-complexes. I doubt that Steel-blue can cross with A. borellii and produce viable fry.

Tnx. That's what happened to me. This male was sold to me as a. borellii.

Here is a photo of a female, as best as i could catch her.

 

[gerald]

Keep trying until you get a sharper photo of "her". Doesn't quite look like another steel-blue. The dark horizontal streaks extending through the tail might be a helpful clue.

 

[Mike Wise]

I agree, gerald, this fish looks more like A. borellii than Steel-blue. Decay, did I read correctly? You did not buy the 2 fish at the same time?

 

[Decay]

I agree, gerald, this fish looks more like A. borellii than Steel-blue. Decay, did I read correctly? You did not buy the 2 fish at the same time?

Quite right Mike

I bought a pair of A. borellii but the male died. I wasn't able to find another one for few months, they are really rare in Serbia, and finally I did, few days ago, but as you explained it to me, it isn't a borellii but a steel blue

Now I don't really kow what to do, this guy at the pet store had around 30 of Apistos that he called borellii, but they are all young so I will probably wait till they grow a little and than buy eather a male borelli or female blue steel. Which ever i manage to find.

@gerald thanks.

 

[Decay]

one photo of ''her''

 

[MickeM]

That is a female borelli.. (I am 99,9% sure of it!!)

 

[MickeM]

You can compare with this male-pic of a borelli..!

 

[Decay]

That is a female borelli.. (I am 99,9% sure of it!!)

Thanks a lot MikeM

so I have A. borelli female and A. steel blue male, and if they are not into interspecies love I have a problem

 

[gerald]

A. borellii has a more zig-zag lateral stripe (extends higher and lower) and smaller caudal spot than steel-blue/caetei, if you need to pick them out from a mixed-species tank.