ID please

[iddt]

Could it be rositae?

Thanks in advance
Richard

 

[tjudy]

sp. 'Harlequin' maybe?

 

[Mike Wise]

It looks like a very pale female A. panduro.

 

[Lolojil]

I agree with tjudy that is A. rositae (= sp "Harlekin) female.

 

[Rolo]

I agree with Mike.

It looks more like A. rositae (=Harlequin) than like A. panduro.
But due to the very big, high lateral spot this can't be A. rositae.
And the caudal spot, which is similar at A. rositae and A. panduro, makes me agree with Mike.

regards,
Rolo

 

[Mike Wise]

iddt,

Can you tell us what it was labeled when sold? Is it a wild fish or domestic? Were there other fish like it in the tank? I must say it is very strange for either A. panduro or A. rositae. Who knows? It may be some new species belonging to the nijsseni-group.

 

[iddt]

I bought it almost 2 years ago from Polish wholesaler as A. baenschi. He brings it for me from Czech so I think they rather not wild. They where young, I had no experience with Inka before so I took the risk and bought it. When fish grow I start to wonder it is really Inka.
I have 1+2 and keep them alone in small tank. From beginning they are extremely shy. It is very hard to take them good quality picture. That's way I didn't ask you before. I can’t force them to breed too. I tried almost everything – peat filtered 100% RO water, decreasing pH in range 7.0-5.0, decreasing temperature, etc., and nothing.

Maybe this will be helpful: male photos. As you see I have to move him to another tank to take picture.

 

[Mike Wise]

Yes, it appears to be a very old male A. panduro. It shows none of the orange color in the tail. I believe that it is due to poor quality breeding stock.

 

[iddt]

Thanks for your remarks.
Hmmm.... I would never suppose it could be A. panduro. I have kept A. panduro for a long time and they were quite different. Males have always had blue tails not yellow. As I remember this male has yellow caudal fin and no visible, clear red margin on it from the beginning. It has also a small rounded caudal spot instead of blurred, triangle shaped as A. panduro males always have.

I thought it could be Harlequin and Panduro or Nijsseni hybrid. What do you think?

cheers
Ryszard

 

[Mike Wise]

The only presently known nijsseni-group species that does not have a red border on the caudal fin is A. rositae (Harlikin). The black markings on your fish are not those of A. rositae. They are like A. panduro. The dark markings A. panduro vary among populations in minor features.

Since your fish are commecial specimens, I believe that you have some highly inbred A. panduro. The breeders never selected specimens for color quality. They just bred fish and sold everything that they bred. This led to very poor, colorless fish. Römer pictures hybrid forms of several nijsseni-group fish in his description of A. baenschi. These fish show obvious deformities. Your fish show none of the features normally seen on hybrid fish. I doubt very much that your fish are crosses.

 

[lab]

I have never seen orange tips on the dorsal fin of an panduro. The only nijsseni.group species I can think of showing this feature is either A. baenschi or A. sp. "Zwilling/Twin". The cheek stripe doesn´t seem to match A. panduro either. It´s not narrow enough, I think.
The female is a bit of a puzzle though, but I guess it could be a "Zwilling" with the markings just below the dorsal fin. The lateral spot is way to big though. The missing/faint orange seam in the caudal also fits best with A. sp. "Zwilling/Twin".
I guess it still could be something new, even though it isn't wild caught fish, but I honestly cannot say exactly what it is. I just don´t think it is A. panduro.

Lars

 

[Mike Wise]

Look at the photo of males on page 629 of Römer's Atlas. Your male is very old and has longer dorsal lappets, which better show the orange color.