Re: A. sp. Wangenflecken??

[Mike & Diane Wise <apistowise@bewellnet.com>]

Scot,

I usually don't question Vinny's IDs - he is quite good at it (For all I know I
might have IDd it for him!) - but I don't think this is A. sp. Wangenflecken. The
caudal spot is too long and narrow for Wangenflecken. The bands in the tail are
too prominent and I think I see a darker Bar 7 showing below the lateral band
(typical of the caetei-complex).

As Ken says it looks like the fish pictured on p. 54 as A. caetei
Blaukopf/Blue-head in Mayland & Bork's book. In Römer's Atlas it is listed as A.
sp. Steel Blue and in Matuzaka, et. al. as A. sp. New Blue. Matuzaka considers it
a domestic cross between a resticulosa- & caetei-complex species. Römer states
that Steel Blue was bred in Germany from Asian males and wild females. My
question is where and how did the German breeder find wild females when the
species is only known from domestic bred fish. I believe that they used whatever
would work and didn't really care if it was a hybrid. Obviously it is fertile and
doesn't show any hybrid deformities seen in some apisto crosses. This is OK if
you realize that they are breeding a domestic hybrid to produce a colorful fish -
like Red Swordtails (Xiphophorus helleri x X. maculatus x X. variatus x ???).
It's not a fish I personally want to keep. There are just too many colorful true
species out there to work with.

By the way, the fish listed as Blue-head & pictured in the Aqualog Book (SAII) on
p. 28 (bottom 2 photos) is not the same fish. They are a pair of cacatuoides-like
A. luelingi.

Now if you want some Wangenflecken (the species is shown as A. resticulosa on p.
116 & 117 in Linke & Staeck, 1994). Dominic Isla has a few that came in as
contaminants. Check out the latest ApistoEmporium & ACA Trading Post. (I IDd
them)

To answer Stephs question, the real A. resticulosa has been exported by Trop Rio
(Marco Lacerda) and is available in the hobby. I know Ade Lau has photos of them
on his web page. Ade, if you see this send us your URL. Whether or not the fish
Steph saw in Perth are the real resticulosa or not is difficult to say. Live A.
resticulosa is not easy to recognize. There are several populations in the Rio
Madeira/Purus drainage that may be separate species or just color forms. A.
resticulosa is hard to separate from A. taeniata, too. There are probably a half
dozen or more species?/color forms of this fish, too. For now I just try to keep
the populations separate and call all the species above Manaus (and not from the
type locality) "A. cf. resticulosa (location)". Those below Óbidos (and not from
the type locality) I call "A. cf. taeniata (location)". Anything between Manaus
and Óbidos I just hope doesn't exist (LOL).
Confused? Welcome to the club!!

Mike Wise

Scott Olson wrote:

> I need help finding some fish!!  I recently picked up three males of the
> fish pictured on Vinny Kutty's site
> (http://www.geocities.com/NapaValley/5491/resticulosa.html) that he
> identifies as the 'wangenflecken apisto.  Of all the regani-group fish that
> I've seen, these are IMO the coolest.  The extensive powder-blue markings on
> the head are really amazing.  But I can't find any females!!  I'm desparate.
>   Does anyone know of a source for these fish?
>
> Thanks much,
>
> Scott
>
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