P. taeniatus 'Moliwe' v. P. taeniatus 'Nyete'

[Cumb Dunt]

Hi guys

This is my first post as I am a new member of this site.

I am an experienced fishkeeper but I have a unique problem that I was hoping someone could help me with.

Recently I purchased some P. taeniatus from an LFS...the problem is that I don't know whether it is the Nyete or the Moliwe strain, since the guy who marked them forgot which was which when they came in so he guessed.

Anyway, I was wondering what, if any, characteristics differ between these two strains and if there was any way to tell them apart. I would like to accurately ID these fish so when they spawn and I distribute the progeny, I won't be spreading them under a misnomer.

I have tried google.com image search but what has come up has not been very diagnostic.

Thanks in advance for any help

 

[tjudy]

Lots of spots on male... moliwe.

No spots on male... nyete.

 

[Cumb Dunt]

Lots of spots on male... moliwe.

No spots on male... nyete.

On the caudal fin or elsewhere?

How about la femmes?

 

[tjudy]

Caudal fin in the moliwe. The nyete males are spotless. Mine (three males) had a red edge on the upper half of the caudal. Go take a look at the pictures in the gallery on the start page to this site. They are good examples of both moliwe and nyete.

moliwe
http://www.apistogramma.com/cms/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=309&Itemid=50

nyete
http://www.apistogramma.com/cms/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=315&Itemid=50

 

[Cumb Dunt]

Caudal fin in the moliwe. The nyete males are spotless. Mine (three males) had a red edge on the upper half of the caudal. Go take a look at the pictures in the gallery on the start page to this site. They are good examples of both moliwe and nyete.

moliwe
http://www.apistogramma.com/cms/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=309&Itemid=50

nyete
http://www.apistogramma.com/cms/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=315&Itemid=50

Thanks. I am now fairly certain they are Moliwe.

However--one of the females I bought does not have a spot on her caudal fin; the other two in my tank do. She is also larger than the other two. Is this variation within the bounds of normalcy?

 

[tjudy]

There is some variation in the spotting in the fins of female taeniatus. The females from Camaroon, other than moliwe, tend to have no spots or one spot. Spots on any taeniatus from Camaroon should not be an indicator of type, except if you are trying to determine a moliwe from some other form (like you are doing). Lobe males, for example, do not have spots... and can be confused with other non-spotted forms like nyete.

 

[Cumb Dunt]

There is some variation in the spotting in the fins of female taeniatus. The females from Camaroon, other than moliwe, tend to have no spots or one spot. Spots on any taeniatus from Camaroon should not be an indicator of type, except if you are trying to determine a moliwe from some other form (like you are doing). Lobe males, for example, do not have spots... and can be confused with other non-spotted forms like nyete.

So you are saying that this female might not be a Moliwe? I'm not sure what you mean.

This picture is from thekrib.com and depicts a female taeniatus labeled as 'Moliwe' that has no caudal spots:

Mine is about a dead ringer for that fish.

Also, I found this pic similarly labeled:

I will try to get a picture of the fish in question.

 

[Cumb Dunt]

Okay...I managed to get some blurry pictures of the fish (and a male):

 

[tjudy]

They look like moliwe to me. The key features in my opinion are the bright yellow face on the female and the caudal spots on the male. There is not black edge to the lower part of the caudal fin of the male, so they are not a Nigerian race... which means they are from Camaroon, and moliwe is the heavily spotted race in Camaroon.

 

[Cumb Dunt]

Thanks, Mr. Judy. I really appreciate your patience with my questions

Well, now to just wait until they spawn!

 

[cdawson]

Those are definately Moliwe they look just like my pair.