Apistogramma viejita

[BigTom]

I've definitely seen a few videos of fry from this import doing the rounds on some of the UK Apisto/cichlid pages.

 

[Frank Hättich]

here are some small A. viejita from Germany

 

[Mrs. Susie]

Look at photos of the two species. A. macmasteri has a taller, narrower, roughly oval/rectangular spot. A. viejita has a shorter, wider, more squarish spot. That, along with body and fin shapes - plus DNA differences - separate the 2 closely related species. BTW, I don't think Oliver would appreciate you using one of his photos for your avatar. He can be, shall we say?, 'sensitive' about such things?

I wonder if it's ok if I chime in - because I have a pair of macmasteri that I'm suspecting are closer to 'wild type' than 'fish store' I'm new to apistogramma so I haven't seen much yet. Here are pictures of the male and female. He does have a taller, narrower oval type caudal spot, correct? This photo shows his usual type of markings but they often fade out almost completely just for a while and then come back. I absolutely love their colors and patterns. They just had their first brood of fry which are now 5 weeks old. APISTOGRAMMA MACMASTERI from a local individual who didn't seem to know or didn't want to tell me if they were wild caught or locally bred.

 

[Mike Wise]

I agree with you, they appear closer to 'wild type' than 'fish store' strains. Obviously these are not wildcaught because they were tank bred, but are they a wild color morp? That's hard to say, too. There are several color morphs in the wild. The above fish could be less colorful specimens pulled from a domestic red strain. Then they could be from wild parents. I will say that I personally prefer these to the over-color-enhanced domestic form.

 

[Mrs. Susie]

Yes I too prefer this more natural looking color morph. It'll be interesting to see how my fry turn out.

 

[tjudy]

I got a box of these in from the collector, but they were time bombs. They were harboring something and almost all of them fell apart about three weeks after they arrived. I heard from almost all the buyers the same week. Weird. The collector has since left the export house he was working for, and no longer has an avenue to export fish... but he will guide explorers!

 

[mixmixi]

I got a box of these in from the collector, but they were time bombs. They were harboring something and almost all of them fell apart about three weeks after they arrived. I heard from almost all the buyers the same week. Weird. The collector has since left the export house he was working for, and no longer has an avenue to export fish... but he will guide explorers!

Seems everything with this fish heading to dead end, ted. Lol