Apistogramma ID needed. Maybe Velifera?

[Aquaticloch]

Hello all,

I picked up a pair from my LFS of a species I could not identify. This store has always atrocious labeling which I help them out with, these were labeled as "Hoignei" and "Megaptera." I believe them to be some kind of pertensis species and maybe velifera. I do know that these guys are likely true blackwater fish so I am in the process of bring the pH and Kh down.

I will add more photos of them when they are settled in my tank (this was at the LFS)

thanks,

 

[Apistoguy52]

These are always fun. Caudal spot on the first fish seems a bit too “squarish” to me. A. minima perhaps?

Not enough in the second picture for me to even fancy a guess.

 

[Frank Hättich]

Hello all,

I picked up a pair from my LFS of a species I could not identify. This store has always atrocious labeling which I help them out with, these were labeled as "Hoignei" and "Megaptera." I believe them to be some kind of pertensis species and maybe velifera.

Yes velifera (excluding the unlikely possibility of A. sp. D40).

 

[Aquaticloch]

Thank you.

Just a couple more questions.

Does anyone know what are some of the main characteristics of velifera. Speaking of the sp. d40 I only managed to find one photo of them before you mentioned them and noticed their similarities with vertical dark barring but figured they were not them due to rarity. Have they ever been seen in the hobby at all?

One thing i noticed about the males of this species is the first 3 dorsal rays are separated from the rest of the fin. Is this an injury or typical to velifera? I was just surprised as my iniridae don't demonstrate this.

Added some more pictures to show the pair and the split

 

[Frank Hättich]

Does anyone know what are some of the main characteristics of velifera. Speaking of the sp. d40 I only managed to find one photo of them before you mentioned them and noticed their similarities with vertical dark barring but figured they were not them due to rarity. Have they ever been seen in the hobby at all?

I only know two photos of the D40 (both not very good for ID purposes) and I have no idea how to distinguish them from velifera other than by catch location. If I remember correctly they have not been in the hobby so far because they died before or soon after arriving but @Tom C will know better!

One thing i noticed about the males of this species is the first 3 dorsal rays are separated from the rest of the fin. Is this an injury or typical to velifera? I was just surprised as my iniridae don't demonstrate this.

According to this excellent source "On A. velifera the dorsal fin lappets on males are all fused into a sail like filament - except for the first dorsal spine". But I have also seen quite some males with 2 spines separated. Whether this was due to a damage or not I can't tell. In the 2nd of your new photos the dorsal seems to be damaged.

I was just surprised as my iniridae don't demonstrate this.

That's one of the differences between velifera and species of the iniridae-group.

 

[Tom C]

I only know two photos of the D40 (both not very good for ID purposes) and I have no idea how to distinguish them from velifera other than by catch location. If I remember correctly they have not been in the hobby so far because they died before or soon after arriving but @Tom C will know better!

Colombia 2017. A lake connected to the Río Guaviare:

We had company up on the fallen trees:

in the air:

and along the banks:

The only eatable fishes for the only family living in the area, were these:

We found a very interesting fish here: A tiny representative for the miniature killifish genus Fluviphylax.

Their closest relatives are Anablepidae (four-eyed fishes) and Poeciliidae (Livebearers)!

In the shallow parts of the lake, we could lift specimens of The South American Leaf Fish (Monocirrhus polyacanthus) out of the water with our hands:

and we found Apistogramma:

Apistogramma sp. "D40".

As we were heading for another expedition the following days, we left all the fishes with our guide, a local experienced fish exporter. He promised to take care of them until we returned.
We don't know what he did, but when we came back to get our fishes, he told us all the fishes died.
So we didn't bring any A. sp. "D40" with us back home. And as far as I know, it has never been re-collected.
But I know where they are...

 

[martin_c]

We found a very interesting fish here: A tiny representative for the miniature killifish genus Fluviphylax.

I've been looking out for Fluviphylax species since a long time, but unfortunately they never appear on the european market. I wonder why that is. I think they would be a great little surface fish in a south america biotope tank.