apistogramma ID

[Remon]

Hi all,

Could anyone of you provide me with a certain ID for this female? Was bought in a batch of wildcaught bitaeniata Rio Nanay, but clearly isnt. I assume it came in with the same shipment so possibly also Nanay, but can't be certain. I'm thinking in the direction of panduro, nijsseni, baenschi, but doesn't show more color than this.

Many thanks!

 

[A Timbers Fan]

I was leaning towards a male nijsseni-group but the colors are very odd. I've not seen anything like this before. Posting to be notified when someone more experienced replies

 

[Mike Wise]

Strange dark markings and color pattern. Does it always look like this? It does look like a nijsseni-group species. Two, A. rositae & A. martini, occur in the Río Nanay.

 

[Remon]

Thanks!
Yes it pretty much always looks like this, with the yellow first half usually less prominent. Sometimes more prominent black spot on the abdomen. First dorsal fin rays appear to be black.

 

[Mike Wise]

At first I thought that it might be a "Brustband" form of A. panduro, but none of the other dark markings are at all like those of A. panduro. Most of the other dark markings resemble those of A. baenschi, somewhat. I honestly don't know what species it is.

 

[Remon]

I made some more, don't know it that helps. Thanks for the advice in any case!

 

[rappaz]

If i had to bet for any species, i would say it's A. baenschi, but i'm not an expert

 

[Shane]

It could also be a hybrid. I've never seen that yellow splotching nor the irregular black splotching.

 

[A Timbers Fan]

Hybrid? I once had a batch of A. rositae (wild) that spawned shortly before the male passed. The resulting fry looked like A. rositae but according to the person I gave them to (7 fish, equal sexes approx.) they never had success spawning. They assumed they were hybrids. I don't know all the details, however.

 

[Mike Wise]

Drayden, to me that person's statement seems to be an excuse for not trying hard enough. A. rositae is not the easiest apisto to breed

 

[rasmusW]

Could it be some form of A. sp. oregon? that somehow came in with a Rio nanay shipment. Maybe from a fishermens holding tank or so? dunno. just a thought.

-r

 

[Mike Wise]

I highly doubt it. A. sp. Oregon has a large caudal spot that covers most of the base of the tail - 3X larger than on your fish. The dark operculum on your fish reminds me more of that on females of A. nijsseni, A. sp. Nijsseni-New or A. sp. Matses. These species, however, do not show a 'breast band' like your fish, nor black pigment on the lower part of the caudal peduncle.

 

[CRD]

Drayden, to me that person's statement seems to be an excuse for not trying hard enough. A. rositae is not the easiest apisto to breed

It wasn't so much a lack of spawning success, they were quite prolific spawners. It was the lack of viable fry coupled with the deformed scales/scale rows that led me to believe they were inadvertent hybrids.

 

[Mike Wise]

Lack of viable fry can be caused by poor fish management, but deformed scale rows definitely points toward hybridization.

 

[Remon]

Thanks a lot for your thoughts guys! Should it show a more prominent pattern someday, I will try a get another picture. For know I assume it will stay a bit of a mystery lol