Dwarf from Venezuela, ID please

[Raviolka]

Hello everyone,

can you please help me to identify this species? It was caught in Venezuela, in a black lagoon next to the upper part of Orinoco.

Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[Mike Wise]

I am fairly certain which species the fish are. To be certain, I will need to know which river that they were collected from. If they are what I think, then they are quite rare in the hobby!

 

[Raviolka]

Sounds interesting
As already mentioned, the only river around was Orinoco itself. The place is called Guachapana and can be found on Google (Guachapana, Amazonas, Venezuela) - there is a black body of water on the left bank. Locals call it Laguna Guachapana.
...but I think that we have seen the same fish again in black lagoons adjacent to Casiquiare - if not the same, then pretty similar to my eyes. I will try to find the photo and post it here as well.

 

[Microman]

Looks a little like Apisto sp.Weibsaum/Whiteseam to me but im not 100% sure.
If they are we have had them in the UK as contaminants with D.filamentosa.
Mark...

 

[Ttw]

Did you collect this fish or do you have access to Venezuelan fish?

 

[Mike Wise]

OK, Guachapana seems to be in the Río Venturari system. This is the area that A. cf. pertensis (Orangesaum/Orange-seam) (A151) is believed to occur. Your fish look very much like it. It isn't A. sp. Weißsam/White-seam. The lateral spot is a different shape - as is the body shape.

 

[Raviolka]

Did you collect this fish or do you have access to Venezuelan fish?

I just photographed it on the site and let it go...

OK, Guachapana seems to be in the Río Venturari system. This is the area that A. cf. pertensis (Orangesaum/Orange-seam) (A151) is believed to occur. Your fish look very much like it. It isn't A. sp. Weißsam/White-seam. The lateral spot is a different shape - as is the body shape.

Ventuari actually flows into Orinoco almost 20 km below Guachapana, so this is not Ventuari system, and those 20 km between are not blackwater... but that is not a big distance and I trust you. Thanks!


What about these dwarfs?

1. Blackwater lagoon, more upstream than Guachapana:

2. Even more upstream:

3. Blackwater lagoon in the Casiquiare area:

4. Rio Pasimoni, Casiquiare system:

I am sorry for the photo quality :frown:
Thanks to all of you guys!

 

[Mike Wise]

Fish 1 and 2 look like the same species, populations of A. cf. pertensis (Orangesaum). Fish 3 looks different. It reminds me of a young A. velifera, a species that occurs in this area. Fish 4 looks like an iniridae-group species. The photo isn't the best for identification purposes. My guess, based only on this one photo, is that the species is a population A. uaupesi. A. uaupesi is found in the Casiquiare.