Apistogramma cruzi

[mematrix]

:biggrin: Hi All. I aquired a pr of apistogramma cruzi. I'm am fairlu sure I have a pr. I am looking for info on them. Are they an aggressive apisto? I have them in with my borelliis for right now till i get a heater for another tank which i have already ordered. They are pretty small and the male is already chasing my 3 times larger borelli to other side of tank. Are they difficult to spawn and whats there water requirements? I also have another 75+ borelli fry to go with the 100 6mm fry frome before. I also am wondering if there is any place to get agassiziis in dallas ft worth area Have tryied area LFSs with no luck. Thanks in advance for help.

Sincerely Curtis

 

[cdawson]

I used to have a pair of these, still have a male. Never did get them to spawn though, I traded them for a pair of agassiziis that were much nicer.

 

[Mike Wise]

The real (holotype form) of A. cruzi is very rare in the hobby. Usually we see a less colorful form called A. sp. Putumayo or Algodon II. The true cruzi is a more slender fish with a bi-colored caudal fin (red/orange on top & pink/clear on bottom) that often develops 2 short extension on the top & bottom. Photos of the 2 species can be seen together in Römer's Atlas (p. 359). The top fish is A. sp. Putumayo; the bottom fish is A. cruzi.

A. sp. Putumayo is a clearwater fish that breeds in conditions similar to those of A. agassizii. A. cruzi is a blackwater fish & needs soft acid conditions similar to A. nijsseni to reproduce.

 

[Peter Lovett1]

Mike

Could i ask how Papagei and morado fit into this as they all look very similar other than how colourful they are?

and is this a Morado or Papagei

 

[cdawson]

Mike

Could i ask how Papagei and morado fit into this as they all look very similar other than how colourful they are?

and is this a Morado or Papagei

Looks like Morado, not enough Red for a papagei. Either that, or it's a bad picture. Papagei are VERY colourful, lots of red, yellow and blue on them. Easily the most naturally colourful apisto IMO. It doesn't look like a papagei to me, but then it's not a good picture if it is.

 

[Peter Lovett1]

Well they came in as morado and I also goto some fish in as algadon witch is used for Papagei and the females are very similar. What i wanted to know was is Papagei,A. sp. Putumayo and Morado the same spiece just diffrent colour morph or are they quite distinct and if so what is the way to tell them apart.

I have at the moment the spawning pair of morado shown in the photo. A spawning pair of what should be papagei plus stock tank containing about 20 fish in each and all the males show quite diffrent colours. I will try and get some good pics of all the fish.

 

[cdawson]

Well they came in as morado and I also goto some fish in as algadon witch is used for Papagei and the females are very similar. What i wanted to know was is Papagei,A. sp. Putumayo and Morado the same spiece just diffrent colour morph or are they quite distinct and if so what is the way to tell them apart.

I have at the moment the spawning pair of morado shown in the photo. A spawning pair of what should be papagei plus stock tank containing about 20 fish in each and all the males show quite diffrent colours. I will try and get some good pics of all the fish.

Yes the females are quite similar, but since I don't have both species right in front of me I couldn't tell you exactly the differences. Starforsaken has both, you might want to ask him the differences. The papagei female does have alot of red mixed in with the blue on the dorsal though.

 

[Mike Wise]

A. cruzi, A. sp. Papagei/Parrot, & A. sp. Pebas (Morado/Purple is just a color morph of Pebas) are different species. At least A. cruzi is different from the other two. A. cruzi is a member of the cruzi-complex while Pebas & Papagei are members of the closely related Pebas-complex. The most obvious difference between species in the 2 complexes is that the cruzi-complex species have a single caudal spot not attached to the lateral band. The Pebas-complex species have a 'caudal patch' composed of a caudal spot that is joined to a dark central part of Bar 7 (the last vertical bar on the caudal peduncle). A. sp. Pebas forms develop what looks like a large square or triangular patch while A. sp. Papagei has a double patch joined together by a short, broad horizontal band. Brooding females of Pebas usually have 5 - 6 lateral patches where the lateral band is normally located; A. sp. Papagei rarely has more than 2 or 3, located on the front part of the body.

I ignore color, which is generally unreliable as a diagnostic feature. Not all A. sp. Papagei, for example, are colorful fish. Look only at the dark markings & you can easily(?) separate them.