Re: need help to identify apisto

[Mike & Diane Wise <apistowise@bewellnet.com>]

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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