Is this A. Borelli female?

[Adwin]

** Sorry for the long post but i think the pictures are needed to make the story complete **​

I recently stocked my 110L tank with some new A. Borelli since the previous inhabitants of the tank died an unexplainable death. More about that in my introduction post http://www.apistogramma.com/forum/threads/hello-from-the-netherlands.18547/#post-89174

After reading alot about the natural environment where Borelli is mostly seen and the fact that they live with 100's of fish in 1 square meter made me decide i want to try a 2 male/2 female combo. I went to the LFS to get me 1 male Borelli and 2 female since i already have a beautiful male.

The LFS had a handsome couple. The male is pretty young but already has nice colors

and the female had a very nice yellow color to her

The 2nd female was a bit greyish but she looked healthy and i thought she would be a great companion to my large male. But after i put the fish in the tank she started getting blue facial markings and i even thought i noticed a blue glare over her body. This is where i would like your opinions: is this even A. Borelli and if so, is this fish male or female?

When i look at the behaviour i see both Borelli males taking interest in the female and i notice the large male stalking the smaller one. The later doesn't really seem impressed but they are going back and forth through the tank trying to impress and tail-whip each other.

But the **UNKOWN** just swims around the tank. He does take some notice of the female but just barely and the two Borelli males are way to busy with each other. Only the large male seems to notice the **UNKNOWN** and tries to impress him/her abit.

** TLDNR: Is the fish in the 6th picture A. Borelli and if so, is this fish male or female? **​

 

[Adwin]

Hmmm it seems hotlinking from Dropbox doesn't work. I will upload the pictures to the media section later. In the meantime, if you right click on the image icon and select 'Open image in new tab' you will see the pictures. Sorry about the inconvenience

 

[Adwin]

Ok this thread is getting messy. It seems i fail at copying the right link and now it seems i cant edit my previous posts so i will upload the pictures here.

1 A. Borelli male large

2 A. Borelli male large

3 A. Borelli male small

4 A. Borelli male small

5 A. Borelli female

6 **UNKNOWN**

7 A. Borelli both males

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
The unknown female is a female (you can see the black leading edge to the ventral fins), but she is somewhere in the "Blue-Steel" or "Wagenflecken" area. Have a look at Mike Wise's comments in this thread
<http://www.apistogramma.com/forum/threads/is-this-the-infamous-macmasteri-blue-steel.9087/#post-50776>.

cheers Darrel

 

[Adwin]

Hi Darell, thanks for your reply. That the unknown is a female would explain the slight interest she is getting from the large male. I think she looks pretty but I'm going to return her to the LFS because I don't want her to get lonely in the tank and I'm certainly not keeping two different Apistogramma species in this tank. And the Borelli males really need one or two Borelli female to impress.

I would like to hear some more opinions on what species she is though so I can share that information with the LFS

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I would like to hear some more opinions on what species she is though so I can share that information with the LFS

I can't tell you any more. You'll need Mike Wise etc. to come on to give you a definitive ID (assuming enough markings are showing). "Blue-steel" would be my guess, partially as it is often sold as "borellii", she has a roundish caudal blotch and no barring, but it would be just that, guess work.

cheers Darrel

 

[Mike Wise]

I think Darrel is correct. It looks like Steel-blue or a resticulosa-complex species to me. The picture just doesn't show enough features to say exactly what species it is.

 

[Adwin]

Darell and Mike, thank you both for your input and information. I have had contact with the LFS and they where sold this fish as A. Borelli together with 2 other Borellis couples. I will pass the information to them and swap this female for a Borelli female. Thanks alot!