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Re: need help to identify apisto



Erick,

Keeping the females separate would be fine if you have enough tanks. For most of
us this is not possible. Yes, most female look similar, but the 3 species
Patrick has are different enough that even the females can be separated if you
know what to look for. Look in apisto books & you will see the differences in
mature females:

A. cf. eunotus Orangetail (typical "A. eunotus" in the hobby) - Large for
females (2¼"/6cm); lateral band has even borders & often broken into spots along
the flanks; caudal spot large (½ the height of the caudal peduncle) and oval
shaped; dorsal spots present, but usually indistinct & seen as part of the
vertical bars.

A. sp. Rotpunkt - Average for females (2"/5cm); lateral band zigzag or zipper
like, dissolves into a series of spots along the flanks in brood dress; caudal
spot small (1/3 the height of caudal peduncle) and irregularly 'half moon'
shape-  (ç; dorsal spots present & very prominent (like in macmasteri-group
females).

A. borellii - Small for females (1½"/3.5cm); lateral band narrow & zigzag,
usually only seen on the back half of fish, lateral band never dissolves into a
row of spot along the flanks; caudal spot extremely small & normally merges into
the posterior part of the lateral band; no dorsal spots.

These features should help Patrick separate his females. The males will be much
easier.

Koslowski did publish a paper on how to identify females on the
species-group/complex  level, but species within a complex can be nearly
impossible to separate without a lot of experience.

Mike Wise

"Erick@Vielka@nospam.org" wrote:

> Mike
> What about separating the females. I have had problems in the past telling
> one specie female from another. Some sort of guide or key would be nice.
>
> Erick Jones
>
> just one of many failings I have :)
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-apisto@v2.listbox.com [mailto:owner-apisto@v2.listbox.com]On
> Behalf Of Mike & Diane Wise
> Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2003 8:43 AM
> To: apisto@v2.listbox.com
> Subject: Re: need help to identify apisto
>
> Patrick,
>
> I looked at all your photos. Many show juvenile fish or photos that are not
> good enough to identify. My guess is that the follow are:
>
> ident(1), 2, 3? 4? 6? & 9 - A. cf. eunotus Orangetail
> ident13 - A. borellii
> ident5, 8?, & 14 - A. sp. Rotpunkt
> ident12 - A. cf. eunotus but possibly A. sp. Masken. It hard to tell from
> the poor photo.
>
> My suggestion is keeping them together until the grow out. Each will be very
> different from the other once they mature - especially the size & shape of
> the caudal spot & the length, thickness, & shape of the lateral band.
> Compare these features on photos in good dwarf cichlid books & you should
> see a real difference.
>
> Hope this helps,
>
> Mike Wise
>
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