Re: Opal borellii... or NOT... not!!!

["Scott Olson" <olson7@hotmail.com>]

This is definitely the 'blue-head' apisto that I picked up at Petsmart a few 
months ago (males only, of course).  Mine were sold as Borellii also, even 
though they obviously are not that species.

Check out the serrated and relatively low spiny dorsal and the pattern in 
the caudal fin, as well as the spot on the caudal peduncle and the fact that 
the dorsal stripe is nearly always visible.

A little off-topic, but kind of related in a cichlid sort of way....

'Tilapia' of several species have been introduced to the canals, streams and 
lakes in the Phoenix area.  My sons and I have a lot fun catching, examining 
and releasing the different 'Arizona' cichlids (I realize they are African 
natives).  So far we've caught only Oreochromis Zillii and O. Niloticus.  
There are also supposed to be some T. mariae and O. Mossambicus (spelling?) 
in the area.  I realize this a poor substitute for collecting the Amazon or 
the Orinoco, but it was kind of a cheap thrill to catch my first wild 
cichlid!

In case you're wondering, I have seen evidence of winter-kill, even here in 
sunny AZ.

Happy Fourth of July!

Scott


>From: Mike & Diane Wise <apistowise@bewellnet.com>
>Reply-To: apisto@majordomo.pobox.com
>To: apisto@majordomo.pobox.com
>Subject: Re: Opal borellii... or NOT... not!!!
>Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2000 08:37:28 -0600
>
>Actually, I'm not sure that Bluehead is actually a real species, or a 
>domestic
>hybrid designed to produce a nice blue fish. Originally only adult males 
>were
>offered from Asia. The Czech breeders started supplying both sexes, 
>claiming that
>they bred Asian males with wild females. The question I have is where did 
>the
>wild females come from? My guess it that they realized that this fish is a
>domestic hybrid between catei- and resticulosa-like species & used a
>caetei-complex female. I certainly would not call it "A. caetei". It's been
>published under the names Bluehead, Steel Blue, & New Blue.
>
>Mike Wise
>
>Raymond Wong wrote:
>
> > Acutally think I know exactly what this fish is
> > it looks like a borelli and is sold as one all the time
> > I have some pictures on my site
> > and Mike Wise ID'ed it for it
> > he said
> > Apistogramma caetei 'bluehead'
> >
> > http://members.home.net/rwmw/ahongsloi.htm
> >
> > here's what he said in an e=mail to me
> >
> > It is your unknown fish. This is a fish I haven't personally seen except 
>in
> > pictures. I am pretty sure that it is a fish that the Germans call 
>Blaukopf
> > (Bluehead) in Mayland & Bork's book or Steel Blue in Römer's Atlas,  and 
>the
> > Japanese (Matuzaka, et. al.) call it New Blue. This is a domestically
> > developed fish, originally coming from SE Asia. Mayland & Bork believe 
>it is
> > part of the caetei-complex, while Römer believes it is a member of the
> > resticulosa-complex. The fish shows more features of resticulosa-complex
> > fish, but the head profile and tail pattern are more like caetei. 
>Matuzaka
> > believes that it is a cross between species of the two complexes. Who is
> > correct?  I don't know. The fish shows none of the irregular scale 
>pattern
> > in the caudal peduncle area that most cross-bred apistos show, but the
> > highly skewed sex ratio points at something not being quite natural. 
>Mayland
> > & Bork mention that the species was established in Europe only by 
>breeding
> > domestic males with wild females. Where they got the wild females and 
>how
> > they knew they were the same species is beyond me. I bet that they used 
>a
> > caetei-complex female (who knows what species). This is bad husbandry if 
>you
> > want to keep a species pure. It's OK if you are fixing a color pattern, 
>like
> > in certain livebearers, but such fish should never be listed under a
> > scientific name. If you like the fish and want to breed it, I'd suggest
> > finding a female A. caetei and see what develops. Who knows, if crossed 
>with
> > a "Primavera" color form of A. caetei you might get males with both a 
>lot of
> > blue and red on the face!
> >
> > Thank You
> > Raymond Wong
> > ------------------------------
> >
> > Please Visit My Aquarium Page : (adding more pix everyday)
> > (Pictures of my fish,plants,tanks)
> > http://welcome.to/myapisto
> > ________________________________________________________________________
> > Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com
> >
> > 
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