Apistogramma borellii Opal

[Szawack]

So, here’s the question I have noticed that there are numerous posts about is the apistogramma borelli is a naturally occurring strain or a selectively bred variant wanted to hear people’s two cents, because I prefer naturally occurring versus artificially made lol

 

[Frank Hättich]

See Mike's comment here:

Mixing Borellii phenotypes.

So I have been looking at a website that sells Dwarf Cichlids, and they actually recently have stocked a subvariety of A. Borellii from the Pantanal/Paraguay River these fish have a markedly different phenotype to the Opal variety, and, knowing that the Opal variety often has challenges with...

apistogramma.com

 

[anewbie]

My view is almost all the commonly available species (macs, agasizzi, borelli, ....) are not going to be true wild form so pick the one colour you like and enjoy it. Those species that only come in one form (such as panduro and nijjensi) are likely to be close to wc form.

As for wild borelli; i've not seen them for sale since i started looking 4 years ago. My vague understanding is that while they are among the most prolific of species most are in regions of Brazil that are not exporting them for various reasons however - there are true experts who know the actual details of what is happening.

 

[Mike Wise]

Those species that only come in one form (such as panduro and nijjensi) are likely to be close to wc form.

For the most part this is true, but I have seen photos of really different patterns on some of the nijsseni-group species. Usually it is strange dark markings on females.

My vague understanding is that while they are among the most prolific of species most are in regions of Brazil that are not exporting them for various reasons however - there are true experts who know the actual details of what is happening.

I remember when we could only get ugly yellowish-gray specimens in the 70s. Then wildcaught specimens appeared in the trade. Now they are rarely collected commercially. This is more likely due to them not inhabiting the more common collecting areas and domestic commercial breeding makes collecting in the wild uneconomical.

 

[dlenart25]

My first experience with apisotgramma was a blue variation of borelli (labeled as opal at lfs) . I really didn’t know what I was getting into, but was amazed at what they developed into. This pair had several successful spawns over the span of 2 years. One of the most beautiful and entertaining fish I’ve ever had the pleasure of owning. They recently passed and I’m in the process of integrating a different apistogramma species into my aquarium . RIP