A. sp. "Smaragd" yes?

[Samala <samalaud@yahoo.com>]

Ran into a tank of Apistos at a local shop today. 
Nearly fell over dead.  I've never seen Apistos in the
shops of my area before this.  The shop owner let me
take a male of the bunch to try to ID.

I believe I have A. sp. "Smaragd", also ref'd as A.
sp. "Emerald" and is a color form of A. geisleri.  But
I'm not sure as the A. geisleri pictures I've seen
don't have all the dark markings that this fish shows
and the "Smaragd" pics I've seen can't confirm or deny
that this fish is also a Smaragd.   There is also the
question of the fish being the infamous A. sp. "Steel
Blue" that was sold as Borelli over the US in the past
two years.  (Did we ever confirm that they were
hybrids?)

The fish I have has the hallmarks of the regani
complex: small size (1 1/4"), somewhat broken dark
lateral band with caudal peduncle spot (which is
small).  Suborbital band with a little white/light
blue coloration on the head (not spangling).  Some
yellow markings on the cheeks and a dark red or
perhaps purple on the lowest edge of the jaw.  Fins
are clear with some opaque markings.  Dorsal blotches
also occur in broken patches on the body.   I'm
betting on Smaragd here as the body has a vibrant
bright green metallic cast to it with good light. 
Shop says they are WC, and they came in with some wild
aggies marked Alenquer.  Course, that could be
incorrect. 

Erik Olson's pic of A. sp. Smaragd on his site is a
near perfect match.  The sole difference is that the
black edging of the ventrals in MY fish is
incomplete.. stretching roughly halfway.  (Could be an
individual variation.) 
http://www.thekrib.com/Apisto/A-sp-smaragd.jpg

My questions:
a) is it safe to call this fish Smaragd or at least A.
geisleri?  Or, is there a definitive way to confirm
these are NOT A. sp. SteelBlue?  I'm concerned about
having hybrids.   

b) will Smaragd interbreed with A. cf. eunotus
"Orangeschwanz"?  (He can either live in a 10gal. with
some cardinal tetras or a 30gal. with a pair of those
eunotus.)  

c) does anyone have female A. sp. Smaragd?  The shop
said there were some "dull fish" in the bag with the
"pretty green fish" but all died.  I'm not
specifically looking to breed him but I've had
"lonely" cichlids before and they develop all sorts of
quirks.  (Like attempting to mate with small
angelfish.)

TIA
>Sarah

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