Help with ID...

[JasonC]

So I picked up a pair of Apistos that I thought were A. eremnopyge, but now I am not too sure. I think that they may be A. sp. "Kelleri" instead. In the interest of seeing if I have learned anything about ID'ing these guys, let me put out what I am seeing and see if maybe I am right.

First the male:

The face looks like it has too steep of a forehead, and looks more triangular than oval.. mouth looks like it is close to in plane with the bottom edge of body rather than the lateral line... speaking of which, there is no lateral line that is visible. Lyretail, though I think both species has this, is patterned on top half, yellow on the bottom half.

The Female:

Has a (faint, but there) forehead/cheek stripe. Missing spot on caudal peduncle, and again, no lateral line.

These are the actual images of the fish. All research was based off of images on apisto.sites.no, and Mike Wises' fantastic articles on ID'ing apistos on the same site.

So... am I right, or what am I missing?

Thanks!!!

 

[Melanochromis]

It does look like Kelleri. If you bought them as eremnopyge, I think you should be happy. Kelleri is much more rarer and expensive than eremnopyge, at least in my country

 

[JasonC]

Kelleri was on my dream list for someday, so I really don't mind. But I bought it from a fellow club member, and feel bad that I got them for a *serious* song if thats the case. Wanted the ID so I could compensate him more appropriately.

It does look like Kelleri. If you bought them as eremnopyge, I think you should be happy. Kelleri is much more rarer and expensive than eremnopyge, at least in my country

 

[aquaticclarity]

I would agree...A. kelleri. Nice pick-up! Great fish. I have apair set up that have fry swimming around in the tank with them (after the female only was done mouthbrooding them...great to see her pick them up and spit them out over and over again). And I still have a tank full of adults from a second import of the fish.

Anyone know if there is more then one collection location for this fish???

 

[Mike Wise]

The only verifiable collecting location for A. sp. Kelleri is the outskirts of Leticia, Colombia. The Rio Jutai location is entirely mis-leading. This is from the 'horse's (collector's) mouth'.

 

[JasonC]

Mike,

Do you know if anyone is working on a formal description for the species? Seems a shock that no one seems to be racing to get one of 2 proven mouth-brooding Apistos described?

Also, can I take it that with you not calling out the above ID's from Melanochromis and AquaicClarity, that you concur that I do have A. sp. kelleri?

Thanks all!

The only verifiable collecting location for A. sp. Kelleri is the outskirts of Leticia, Colombia. The Rio Jutai location is entirely mis-leading. This is from the 'horse's (collector's) mouth'.

 

[Mike Wise]

They certainly look like A. sp. Kelleri to me, from what I see. I don't know exactly which species will be described next, but inside information say 'not Kelleri'. There's no reason to expect a real need for its description over the 200 other undescribed species/forms that exist. Taxonomic descriptions seemingly aren't as important as other forms of taxonomic studies these days. It takes a lot of time (= money) to described a new species.

 

[merlin]

The fish in the photograph looks identical to yours. This is the male of a pair of kelleri bought this week.

Derek