ID needed badly

[chris1932]

I was fishing through a tank of new arrivals and there were a few fish that showed great potential. I picked the best 12 and was very surprised this morning at what the fish looked like in just 12 hours time. I thought mabey Stackei or something in that group.

Last night that fish looked like this.

These pictures were from a few hours ago.

 

[aquaticclarity]

Wow! Very cool fish. The tail pattern screams bitaeniata but the diagonal marks in the lower region say gibbiceps.

Spawn them and send some to Wisconsin please!

(And thanks for sending the female trifasciatus along with Ted a while back. She has spawned a few times already>)

Jeff

 

[chris1932]

Yeah I know. I am very excited about this one. The black lips and divided tail patern point me one place but the low body marks squash it. I was out in the shed cleaning a tank in the dark this evening. They get an ASAP home.

On to your Trifasciata. I watched that female for a day or so and worked pretty hard to make sure she was the one I caught. Question? How are the male/female splits going for you? I am still suffering low females on this one, and Baenschi I am getting the opposite no matter what I do? I am glad you are pleased with the fish. They are one of the nicer ones I have and everyone that gets them is tickled once they have a chance to observe them. Photos just dont do them justice.

Chris

 

[Mark]

Hi Chris,

I'm sorry but I think this is just a nice colourform of the A. gibbiceps. All signs except the striping in the tail point to gibbiceps. I have seen gibbiceps with tailstriping so I am not surprised to see them.
Where do the fish come from? Brazil? Peru?

Gr. Mark

 

[Mike Wise]

Mark is right, it looks like the striped-tail A. gibbiceps. Koslowski (1986) wrote (translation from German):

"Apistogramma gibbiceps occurs in various forms. At an earlier time specimens imported to us with Red Neons (Cardinal Tetras) showed pronounced caudal fin bands in both sexes, which were missing in specimens since then. I labeled this form as A. cf. gibbiceps. Males of this form have dorsal fin lappets and extensions on the caudal fin that remain shorter. Gill covers and ventral areas are yellowish in color, exactly like the border of the tail fin."

Since your males have obviously highly extended anterior dorsal lappets, it isn't exactly the same as the fish Koslowski writes about. The fish he describes are more like A. roraimae. Still you have an unusual form of A. gibbiceps. It would be worth reproducing and spreading around.

 

[Sharpfish]

Chris you were not kidding about the pictures. Those are great shots. Wally