Re: a.macmasteri

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

Kaycy,

I'm not certain on what you base your A. macmasteri ID. The photo you show is of
a species I now have. It came to me as A. sp. Blue-cheek. This is a color form of
A. sp. Rotpunkt. A. macmasteri has a lateral band that usually is visible as a
row of broken spots. When it is continuous, the band starts as a very narrow
postorbital stripe (1 scale wide) that expands quickly at the lateral spot (to
cover over 2 scales in width) and then gradually narrows again toward the tail.
The lateral band of A. sp. Rotpunkt has a very regular width along the flanks
from just behind the operculum to the caudal peduncle spot, like in your photo.
In A. macmasteri, the dark areas of the scales on the lateral band form a series
of interconnected "v" shaped markings. Those of A. sp. Rotpunkt are more like
vertical lines offset from each other, like looking at a zipper. Your photo shows
this zipper-like band. The caudal peduncle spot on A. macmasteri is a small well
defined oval that covers 50% of the height of the caudal peduncle. The c.p. spot
on A. sp. Rotpunkt is smaller still (25-30% of the c.p. height) and very
irregular in outline, again like in your photo. Male A. macmasteri usually, but
not always, display red pigment along the upper and lower edges of the tail fin.
A. sp. Rotpunkt never does, to my knowledge. All of these color patterns are
diagnostic and not affected by the emotional state of the fish. Don't feel bad.
You aren't the first person to confuse these two species, especially at a small
size.

Mike Wise

djhanson@calweb.com wrote:

> Ken Laidlaw wrote:
> >
> > Hi,
> >
> > I'm not too sure on your fish labelled as A.macmasteri
> > (http://www.calweb.com/users/d/djhanson/macma.htm).
> > I think it looks more like A. sp rotpunkt colour variety.
> >
> > Regards,
> > Ken.
> Yes, these are infact macmasteri. The male was young and wasn't very
> colorful due to being stressed. The brood caring female can sort of be
> seen in the photo too. But, it is a macmasteri.
>
> Kaycy
>
> http://www.calweb.com/users/d/djhanson/index.htm
>
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