Apistogramma "Morado"

[discusmel]

Hiya everyone' i'm new round here but have been here on loads of time checking out the articles Anyway i have a 13 uk gallon tank with a male and two female of what i think is "morado".Could anyone confirm this for me?? I bought them at auction in feb and they were barely bigger than my finger nails, i gave away a small male and female and kept the best three :lol:

The male a few months ago

The male now

In natural sunlight and at the right angle the make has a gorgeous purple sheen.

Okay next question, imagine my suprise one evening when i saw this

They only lasted a couple of days and i want to be prepared for the next time, whats the best food as i didn't even see them till they were free swimming and would it be best that the male is just with one female or just leave them to it.sorry for the long post just trying to make sure i've not left anything out.

Thank you for all your help!!!

 

[mummymonkey]

In natural sunlight and at the right angle the make has a gorgeous purple sheen.

Morado means purple so that figures.

 

[discusmel]

Lmao mummymonkey i do bump into you everywhere :lol:

I'm just checking that it is "morado" as no-one seems to of
heard of them :roll:

 

[Mike Wise]

A. sp. Morado is a purple color morph of A. sp. Pebas. I cannot say for certain that this is your fish. A. sp. Pebas/Morado has a double spot on the caudal peduncle. It doesn't appear on any of your photos. Still the colors look correct (but aren't a diagnostic feature). I'd need more photos (especially the female) to be sure, but it probably is Morado.

 

[discusmel]

Thanks for the help i do have a better pic of the female, sorry about the lights there a bit yellow :roll:

 

[Mike Wise]

I still have problems with this fish. The female has a caudal spot that is much too small for A. sp. Pebas/Morado - and too many patches along the lateral band.

 

[discusmel]

So any idea of how i can get an Id on this fish?

 

[Mike Wise]

I would need more photos of the fish (especially the male) in various emotional moods.

 

[discusmel]

Thank you Mike for taking the time, i would love to know what they are!!

Male

With the smaller female

and with the bigger female

 

[Mike Wise]

OK! I'm fairly certain what your fish is. It is not A. sp. Pebas (Morado). It is a member of the cruzi-complex. The low & even dorsal fin, square caudal spot, indistinct abdominal stripes often replaced by rows of orange spots, the cheek stripe broad at the eye and tapers to a sharp point at the edge of the gill cover, & the red eye rings all point to this being the fish that Julio Melgar (Aquario Nanay) sold in late 1998, and Koslowski 1999 introduced as A. sp. Nanay. It was also sold as A. sp. Melgar.

This A. sp. Nanay is different from the species Römer has discussed in several articles as "A. sp. Nanay". His fish is commonly called A. sp. Papagei/Parrot & is found nowhere near the Rio Nanay. He simply mistook the 2 species, thinking they were the same. This can be confusing, but fortunately virtually no one uses "Nanay" for the Papagei anymore.

 

[discusmel]

Wow Mike very impressive, but just to make sure i understood you correctly their papagei????

 

[Mike Wise]

No, your fish are not A. sp. Papagei/Parrot. Your fish are an undescribed species from the Rio Nanay that are related to A. cruzi (but they are not A. cruzi either). They are presently called A. sp. Nanay. Dr. Römer mistakenly identified the fish we call A. sp. Papagei as Melgar's A. sp. Nanay. A. sp. Papagei comes from the Rio Ampiyacu, not the Rio Nanay.

 

[discusmel]

Mike thank you so very much for your help