Re: A. maciliensis

[Mike & Diane Wise <apistowise@fgn.net>]

Tom,

For the present I'd hate to use A. maciliensis for
any fish. The colors you describe are not as
important as the dark markings (including the
diagonal stripe, of course), which for the most
part you don't describe.

Right now we have populations of fish intermediate
between traditional A. trifasciata, from the upper
Guaporé, and A. sp. Mamoré from the lower Mamoré.
Some look more Mamoré-like while others are more
trifasciata-like. Right now we have
trifasciata-like forms that have various colored
caudals, some with fine spotting in the tail &
some that are unspotted. We also have Mamoré-like
forms that not only have different colored tails
but even different body shapes. Specimens of
Mamoré from the lower Mamoré are deeper bodied
than those from the Guaporé. Right now we don't
know if we are looking at 4, 3, 2, or only 1
species.

It's possible that once all the streams along the
Guaporé & lower Mamoré are sampled that we will
see a continuous gradation from slender, spotted
tail, trifasciata-like forms to deeper bodied
unspotted Mamoré-like forms. If this is the case,
then there is a good chance that all the forms
will be considered merely geographic variants of
one species, A. trifasciata. For now, if I were
trying to name these fish, I'd call them A. cf.
trifasciata (Magdelena) & A. cf. trifasciata (Red
Magdelena).

I do have a very important question to ask. Did
both forms occur in the same location (were they
syntopic)? This is important because we know of no
2 apisto species that occur syntopically with each
other and belong in the same species-complex. The
only exception is A. personata occurring with A.
brevis. Now, we aren't too certain if Gosse
collected A. personata where he said he did, since
no one has found A. personata at its supposed type
locality, only a few A. brevis. If anyone has
collected 2 species of the same species-complex at
the same location, I would be very interested in
hearing from you.

Mike Wise



Thomas Wilkinson wrote:

> I was recently reading Mike Wise's note in The
> Krib about A. Mamore. Now that some of the fish
> I collected in Bolivia have grown a little I was
> using Mike's notes to help with identfication.
> The trifasciata type fish collected are of two
> different color types collected at the same
> locations. These were collected near Magdelena
> near the Rio Itonamas which lies between the
> Mamore and Guapore. One type has a colorless
> caudal and will at times show a diagonal stripe
> typical of trifasciata. The other type has a
> blood red caudal or just the lower half of the
> caudal red and I have not seen it display a
> diagonal line. Both have a broad yellow band
> above the lateral line. Because of the location
> they were found and the description by Mike, I
> believe these are most likely A. maciliensis.
> Does anyone disagree? Could one be A.
> maciliensis and the other A. trifasciata? Both
> are much larger that the trifasciata I have had
> in the past.Tom




-------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.