Colour form of nijjensi

[anewbie]

So i picked up a pair of very young niijjensi 2 of 3 weeks ago - they are about 4/9 to 1/2 full grown and i noticed one odd thing - the male colouring is wrong:

I didn't buy them to breed and i wish my other fishes would breed but because the others won't breed these guys quickly spawned. Reminds me of the 1/2 inch rams i purchased (at the same time) and they spawned.... Oh well i should have wished these would spawned and the others wouldn't spawn to get them to spawn...

Anyway the odd things is unlike my previous nijjensi male this one has a yellow tail - this is one i had 4-5 years ago f1:

Anyway i though colouring for a. nijjensi was more uniforumed but i guess not or maybe it is an age thing as these two are quite young and the one above was full grown.

[The nijjensi were sold as wild caught if that matters]

 

[KenL]

Colour in fish is variable, they look like very nice fish.

 

[MacZ]

Colour in fish is variable, they look like very nice fish.

Yes, and while e.g. in Mbuna species from Lake Malawi this would fall firmly into the variant area, in Apistogramma this can be enough to warrant a (sub-) species division.

 

[Mike Wise]

Wild A. nijsseni typically show a red rim. My guess is that your first male was wild caught or a generation or 2 from wild. This red color often disappears in domestic bred fish.

 

[anewbie]

Wild A. nijsseni typically show a red rim. My guess is that your first male was wild caught or a generation or 2 from wild. This red color often disappears in domestic bred fish.

The one with yellow was sold as wild caught from peru by wetspot but who knows and who knows if the importer truly caught them in the wild or had them in a pond. Anyway was kind of curious.

The other fish with true red was sold as an f1 from aquaclarity.

I sent wetspot an email to see if they could inquire from the exporter what is happening - if they were truly wild caught and are a different 'yellow' strain or if they were being bred and then exported as wc.

 

[anewbie]

Wild A. nijsseni typically show a red rim. My guess is that your first male was wild caught or a generation or 2 from wild. This red color often disappears in domestic bred fish.

This is wetspot response with catch location:

"these are confirmed wild caught with a location of Tahuayo River, Peru"

Adding @Frank Hättich and @Tom C in case they have been in that area. I'm mostly curious if they are another strain or a related species.

 

[Mike Wise]

Many wild apistos also lose red pigment in tanks, probably due to being fed foods different from those that they eat in the wild.

 

[anewbie]

Many wild apistos also lose red pigment in tanks, probably due to being fed foods different from those that they eat in the wild.

I've seen those discussion but i'm not sure that is what happened here after all i feed them the same thing as the f1 pictured and they have not been out of the wild that long - maybe 2 or 3 months.

Anyway it is what it is but my best guess is they came that way.

 

[Tom C]

This is wetspot response with catch location:

"these are confirmed wild caught with a location of Tahuayo River, Peru"

Adding @Frank Hättich and @Tom C in case they have been in that area. I'm mostly curious if they are another strain or a related species.

I don't remember having seen an A. nijsseni exactly like your new male....
I collected in the Rio Tahuayo in 2011 (LINK).
Didn't find any A. nijsseni there, and I have never heard of any A. nijsseni been found in the Rio Tahuayo by local fishermen.
However: There are small streams very close to the habitat of A. nijsseni (near Jenaro Herrera) which drain to the Rio Tahuayo (which is situated much further north.) So I wouldn't be surprised if...

 

[anewbie]

I don't remember having seen an A. nijsseni exactly like your new male....
I collected in the Rio Tahuayo in 2011 (LINK).
Didn't find any A. nijsseni there, and I have never heard of any A. nijsseni been found in the Rio Tahuayo by local fishermen.
However: There are small streams very close to the habitat of A. nijsseni (near Jenaro Herrera) which drain to the Rio Tahuayo (which is situated much further north.) So I wouldn't be surprised if...

Do you think the colour is a natural form of some sub population or should i be suspicious of something else happening with this species (such as local breeding by farmers or whatever) ?

 

[Tom C]

The "...confirmed wild caught with a location of Tahuayo River" makes me wonder...-
Beyond that, I have no indication for either one or the other, so I refrain from speculation.

 

[anewbie]

It has only been a week i guess but his tail is getting considerably darker - i shined a hi power light on it to make sure it wasn't a tint thing. My guess is it was mood or age - more likely age:


Using a flashlight it was much deeper; sadly everything i got him in focused he moved....