Re: Only false A. pulchra in Germany?

[Marco Lacerda <marcolacerda@ax.apc.org>]

Hi, everybody!

I've recently seen two or more German sources referring as A. pulchra 
a totally different Apistogramma, lyretailed and with very few color.
The real A. pulchra is a round to slightly lanceolate tailed fish, 
with totally different color pattern than the fish above German 
sources are referring to.
For my knowledge, there is only one photo of the real A. pulchra 
published up now (TFH July 1997, page 28).

As "German" sources I mean:

1) Mayland, H.J. & D. Bork. 1997. Zwerg Buntbarsche, Südamerikanische 
Geophaginen und Crenicarinen. Landbuch Verlag, 189 pp. (PAGE 110)

2) David Soares' homepage shows apparently same fish as Mayland's 
book, also misidentified as A. pulchra. I think Soares' mistake should 
have come from a German source too, as he has good German connections.

3) Aqualog - Southamerican Cichlids II, page 56 -
There are three photos (pulchra or cf. pulchra), but none of them is 
A. pulchra.
For my opinion: "S03805-4" is A. gephyra; "S03805-4" is difficult to 
say, as it is a female under some Java moss; and "S03800-4" I'm not 
sure about its identity, but surely not A. pulchra. (all live 
specimens of A. pulchra I've seen have always an horizontal gold-
yellow stripe running from the superorbital region until dorsal fin 
basis end; like shown in TFH's picture). Females A. pulchra are very 
similar to females A. agassizii.

Since three years ago, I had the opportunity of collecting in a 
Brazilan State named Rondonia, where one can find numerous 
Apistogramma species. A. pulchra is one of the species found there, 
but living exclusively in blackwater, and inside forested areas (it 
seems to dislike sunny open areas, with warm water).

The species misidentified both by Mayland and by Soares, I've found at 
Rio Ipixuna, a river crossing Transamazonica highway near the city of 
Humaita. Interesting to note is that although Humaita is on the shores 
of Rio Madeira, a big Rio Amazonas tributary, the Rio Ipixuna is 
emptying on Rio Purus, another big Rio Amazonas tributary.
I've called myself the Purus species Apistogramma sp. 'lyretail / Rio 
Purus'.
On last ACA convention, I've seen same species (2nd best in the show) 
from "Wild Things", misidentified as A. steindachneri. One of Wild 
Things' partners (I guess it was Robert Schreiman, also an ASG member) 
told me he collected himself the parents of this fish at Rio Purus 
either, but closer to its mouth than my locality.
Kullander (pers. comm.) suggested me that the A. sp. 'lyretail / Rio 
Purus' should be identical to a fish he mentioned on A. hyppolitae's 
original description (originally published in DCG-Journal, I guess).
By the way, does anybody has a photocopy of this description? I would 
like very much to have a copy, even by fax.

I'm wondering if the German aquarists have only the "false" A. pulchra 
(= A. sp. 'lyretail / Purus').
Does anybody knows anything else about this?

All the best, Marco.