Re: A. sp. Wangenflecken??

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

Scott Olson wrote:

> The first apistos I bred were A. caetei, and I had what I think were true
> resticulosa a few years ago.  Nice fish, both.  One very noticeable quality
> of the caetei was the pronounced lessening of color - both blue/green and
> rusty red - on the head of males of succeeding generations.

Scott,

Many fish lose color in captive breeding situations. Who knows the cause? Water
chemistry? Food? It's just one of those things that happens. If we knew more
about their environment and habits I would expect that the colors would come back
in many species.

> Even the f1
> males (like the male pictured in Linke and Staeck)were a lot less colorful
> than their wild-caught fathers  - and way less colorful than the
> 'wangenflecken' I have now.

Sorry, the fish pictured as A. caetei in Linke & Staeck is actually A. sp.
Paraguay (I) and please don't use Wangenflecken for your fish. They are very
different. We don't need to confuse the issue more than it already is.

> The wangenflecken has several characteristics (or lack thereof) that I think
> may separate it from either species.  These are:
>
> Blue reticulation up the forehead and extending up to the dorsal fin.
>
> No sub-lateral line diagonal black striping on the 'wangenflecken' - in any
> mood, at least that I have seen.
>
> The metallic reticulation is undeniably BLUE.  Not blue-green as I think I
> remember on caetei and the cf. resticulosa that I had.  Same for metallic
> sheen on body scales.

Color mean little on the true Wangenflecken. Look at the difference in
Wangenfleckens pictured in Linke & Staeck (as A. resticulosa) and Aqualog's
SACII. L&S show a male with many tiny red dots. SACII shows a male with red
streaks and some with no red at all! Mayland & Bork's picture of A. resticulosa
might be Wangenflecken, too, but the metallic sheen on the flanks make it hard to
tell. The best way to ID the true Wangenflecken from its close relatives, A.
taeniata & A. resticulosa is by looking at the lateral band. In taeniata &
resticulosa the lateral band is narrow but prominent all the way back to the 7th
vertical bar (Bar 7) just in front of the caudal spot. In Wangenflecken the
lateral band starts to fade out and even disappear once it reaches Bar 6. (If I'm
reading Römer's Atlas correctly, he has it erroneously switched around.).
Separating it from species of the caetei-complex is relatively easy. Caetei-like
species all have highly visible rows of spots covering the entire surface area of
the tail fin. Wangenflecken (and nearly all resticulosa-like species) does not.
At most they are pale and cover only part of the tail fin.

> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> This is the apistogramma mailing list, apisto@listbox.com.
> For instructions on how to subscribe or unsubscribe or get help,
> email apisto-request@listbox.com.
> Search http://altavista.digital.com for "Apistogramma Mailing List Archives"!





-------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is the apistogramma mailing list, apisto@listbox.com.
For instructions on how to subscribe or unsubscribe or get help,
email apisto-request@listbox.com.
Search http://altavista.digital.com for "Apistogramma Mailing List Archives"!