Re: Apisto sp. aff. Agassizii ID?

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

Fredrik,

Sorry, I should have answered earlier. The fish you have is one that Marco
Lacerda brought into the hobby in 1997. He called it A. sp. aff. gephyra Red-fin
Rio Xingu. It probably is more closely related to A. pulchra, however. If you
look closely, the lateral band ends in front of a caudal patch. It does not
extend continuously into the tail. It is the only known agassizii-complex fish
with this feature. Marco & I published an article on this fish in the ACA
Buntbarsche Bulletin last autumn.

Mike Wise

"Fredrik Nilsson A (QDT)" wrote:

> A week ago I brought home 3 males and 4 females of a wild caught apisto sp.
> that in the store was labeled "Apistogramma afanini". One of the males and
> two of the females are adults, the male being 55 mm SL and the females 40 mm
> SL.
>
> The fish are imported via the Check republic and I have no reference at all
> as to where they may come from, etc.
>
> I dumped them into a 250l aquarium with some phantom tetras and cories while
> setting up a new tank for them. Of course by now two females have spawned
> (saturday) and the original inhabitants of the tank are severely terrorized.
> I have never witnessed such aggression from apistos.
>
> They resemble A. agassizii very closely. In the ID worksheet in the Krib the
> answer is aga to allmost everything. The coloration of the dominant male is
> very close to the red agassizii on p.26 in Linke&Staeck. The younger males
> have a lot more blue in them. There are however some small things that
> differ from agassizii:
>
> 1. The caudal fins of the males are oval. Only on the adult male the caudal
> could be described as very slightly lanceolate.
> 2. On the adult females the dorsal fin has a red bordering.
> 3. The caudal fin of the females are slightly more truncate than on an
> agassizii female.
> 4. Breeding females always (as far as I have observed) show the full lateral
> band, not only the lateral spot as my agassizii females did.
>
> They spawned at very low hardness dGH=dKH<2, pH~6.
> Although the tank is planted there is not enough hiding places for such
> aggressive fish. It is interesting to observe though that one of the
> egg-guarding females allows a small female within her territory while
> viciously beating up any other fish that comes close, including the males.
> This smaller female is not in breeding coloration.
>
> I have some pictures waiting to be developed that I will put up somewhere on
> the web when I get them.
>
> Anyone with any experience with this fish? Could a better identification be
> made?
>
> Fredrik Nilsson
>
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