Mystery cichlid.

["Bailin Shaw" <bailin_shaw@hotmail.com>]

Hello all,

A friend and I were able to get some "apistos borelli" at the local Petsmart 
this past week.  I know that recently we had a discussion about the 
mislabeling of the apistos and someone had posted a picture that looked 
almost identical to the fish we have.  I believe the person was calling it 
Apisto. "blue face".  My friend and I feel like it could be an Apisto 
ortmanni.  Following is a detailed description of the fish in question.  Any 
ideas on what the fish could be would be appreciated.  The description is 
based on the Horste and Linke dwarf cichlids book.l


<I've observed this fish quite a bit now and have decided that it is not 
ortmanni.
Everything about it checks out with the ortmanni drawing, except that the 
lateral band does not extend into the caudal fin.  It ends with the sixth or 
seventh traversal bar.  There also are no abdominal stripes or markings.  
The dorsal fin also seems to not be seperated as much in the front rays.  I 
also have not been able to detect a pre-orbital stripe.  The super and sub 
are present though.  The fish is overall a very nice blue color with his 
face being a brilliant cobalt color with motling around the cheeks and chin 
regions.
THere is *some* reddish-yellowish coloration among the blue too.  
Particularly above the eyes there is a bright yellow coloration.  He is 
eating well and doesn't seem to mind the blue ram at all.  Very peaceful so 
far.  The lateral stripe and traversal bars are very visible too.
The caudal spot is very dark and covers most of the base of the caudal fin 
which does have the striping or blotching that the ortmanni has.
I believe the fish may be a macmasteri (pg 85), although his lateral band 
and traversal bars are much more pronounced - likewise I cannot detect any 
red around the caudal fin.  IT may even be something close to a caetei (pg. 
40) yet his traversal bars are more pronounced and his face is MUCH bluer 
than the one in this picture.
Caudal fin is definitely truncate too.  Although different specimens will 
likely exhibit different characteristics.>

Thanks,
Bailin


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