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Laetacara Dorsigera

Ekona

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5 Year Member
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453
Pretty sure these are dorsigera - however not so sure on if I have a pair. Help appreciated.

Fish A
c01973.jpg


5b11ea.jpg


Fish B

719887.jpg


131e96.jpg
 

Ekona

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Messages
453
They are interesting - they have some metallic gold on their flanks that I've not seen before in specimens I've kept of this species. They are small, yet, and not fully colored up - hopefully they will become much more colorful in breeding dress.
 

gerald

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5 Year Member
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1,491
Location
Wake Forest NC, USA
A looks male to me. B could be either, although IME females do usually have a more distinct dorsal spot like that fish (vs more smudged or a series of small spots in males). But these look rather different from run-of-the-mill dorsigera.
 

Ekona

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5 Year Member
Messages
453
Here are two more photos of the male that show the golden colors perhaps a bit better:
fd4eda.jpg

4ff9e4.jpg


After an extensive internet search of all things laetacara/dorsigera - the only images that I could find of this species that have this same golden coloration were found here on the aquarium glaser facebook page showing an import of wild dorsigera:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.239026566298560.1073742046.119893808211837&type=1

Although not identically colored as mine, these are the closest match I could find with the golden color/ocellation on the mid-lateral spot and surrounding scales.

Are they the same? I don't know - they appear to be similar - but, as I said, I've never seen this rather distinctive color trait in any of the various times I've seen or kept this species.
 

Ekona

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Messages
453
Are yours wild or a selective-bred aquarium strain?
I don't know for sure.
  1. I've not heard of any recent imports from Argentina, Bolivia, or Paraguay to U.S. suppliers that could possibly include wild L. dorsigera, so if they are wild imports to U.S. I/we have gotten very lucky.
  2. I have, however, read reports of imports of wild dorsigera into UK late last year, so they are apparently being collected and shipped internationally by someone in S.A. = there is a slight chance of these being a wild import, somehow coming into the U.S.
  3. There is the possibility they are a commercially produced stock shipped in from the far East or Czechoslovakia - However, I, personally, have never had much luck with buying imported Czech apistos, etc - the one's I've seen were invariably inbred and unappealing. If they are Czech, then then these represent the best quality I've ever seen from there, at least with this species. I'm not so sure about Singapore or other Far East sources as I'm not aware of ever having acquired any fishes from such sources, other than rainbows - and they were probably very early generation from wild stocks, so of really good quality. If these dorsigera are Far East stocks, then I'd say they do a pretty good job of commercial production in this case.
  4. There is the possibility they are domestically bred commercial U.S. stock - however, to my eye, the ones I now have are way, way nicer than the previous batches I've kept of domestic, commercially bred stock. If these are domestically bred commercial stock, then someone in the U.S. has greatly improved their inventory of this species.
My guess is they are a very nice commercially bred strain - perhaps some commercial breeders have acquired wild stock in the not-to-distant past and are producing them. But I must say, they look just about nice enough that I could consider the slim possibility that they are wild;). I include two more photos of the what I'm guessing is a non-breeding female for consideration. I like the almost solid red pelvic fins - 'she' should be pretty in breeding dress.

219b8d.jpg


7a2c1a.jpg
 

gerald

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5 Year Member
Messages
1,491
Location
Wake Forest NC, USA
Considering how much of the high-end wild species out of S.Amer and Africa are going to Asian countries now, I presume (hope) there's a growing number of quality-conscious breeders there, and the quality and health of Asian farmed fish may improve. I don't expect the mass-produced-crap-for-export farms will change -- the big-box stores probably rely on those -- but with growing local demand for good-quality fish I think smaller-scale breeders will start up to fill that need. I just hope they show some reasonable restraint about mixing species and populations.
 

Ekona

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Messages
453
And, as Mike and others have pointed out, much of the mixing of populations/collecting locales goes on at the collectors/exporters end. Unless they are obtained by small scale, hobby-conscious collectors, or larger scale operations that choose to be more particular about it, that may or may not change much either.

It even becomes complicated in the natural habitats as well, as there could be widely varying color forms of any one species inhabiting the same body of water (ie apisto. agassizii). And when one considers that waters in the Amazon overflow, flood and recede again, it is not too surprising that there could be mixing of local populations or color forms. As we know from species of native minnows, for instance, there are varying color forms or intergrades between local habitats, and various factors could even cause mixing of those populations. From what I have read and heard, though, at least in some instances, there have been improvements in S.A. collectors methods, species identification, care and shipping facilities.

That many of the high-end fish go overseas, from what I have read and heard, has had to do more with U.S. interactions with the collectors, leading them to choose to do business with alternative markets. What the details of those interactions are, I really don't know.

However, some high end wild Brazilian apistos are coming back into the U.S. via Jeff at AC, Mark at Discus Origins, Oliver Lucanus at Below Water and Jeff Rapps at TIC, to name a few (as well as the imports to U.K. and Germany). And wild Peru exports have been going on for decades - all of these with varying degrees of quality and quantity. So, yes, we can hope that more consciousness enters the breeding facilities due to customer demand, and I think the internet, and especially Forums like this one, help to educate customers and suppliers as well.

Overall, I'd say that for importers, retailers and customers, the supplying and getting fish is always a bit of a gamble - one never knows what will come in, and I guess that is what makes it interesting, if nothing else.
 
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