Apistogramma id

[mathew]

I picked up two unidentified apistos yesterday from the pet store by me and need help to identify them please if anyone can help me. The only thing I know about them is that they came in a bag with hundreds of wild caught pygmy cories. I don't know how the people don't see the apistos in the bag when they aren't supposed to be but it is a male and female so that's pretty cool. The female is not pictured.

 

[Apistoguy52]

Somewhere in the neighborhood of A. eunotus. Probably need better pics to get more precise

 

[mathew]

So the side picture isn't good enough? Are they not clear when you click on them? And how many different eunotos are there? I already have the red tail and the schwanzstreifen. And this looks nothing like either one of them.

 

[Apistoguy52]

So the side picture isn't good enough? Are they not clear when you click on them? And how many different eunotos are there? I already have the red tail and the schwanzstreifen. And this looks nothing like either one of them.

Probably 40+ different cf eunotus species. If you’d like Mike or Frank to be able to narrow it down to something more specific than cf eunotus, the more pictures the better

 

[christian62]

possible aussi Alacrina

 

[Frank Hättich]

Despite the split in vertical bar 6 I'm sure that it's not an eunotus-subcomplex species. Rather it looks like a hoignei-subcomplex species to me. I also have seen such splits in specimens from this subcomplex. To tell which exact species it is will probably not be possible without knowing the exact catch location.

 

[mathew]

Despite the split in vertical bar 6 I'm sure that it's not an eunotus-subcomplex species. Rather it looks like a hoignei-subcomplex species to me. I also have seen such splits in specimens from this subcomplex. To tell which exact species it is will probably not be possible without knowing the exact catch location.

I will ask the owner of fish store and see if he can find out location. I will try to post a video to see if that will help also.

 

[mathew]

I will ask the owner of fish store and see if he can find out location. I will try to post a video to see if that will help also.

Here is a few more photos. He keeps getting stressed out from me shining the light on him so his color isn't showing fully. The whole bottom half of his body is a really dark gold color with some blue in the face

 

[Frank Hättich]

Unfortunately, I still can't tell you the exact species and probably won't be able to without knowing the exact catch location. However, I can ID the fish in the background of the second picture, it's A. steindachneri.

 

[mathew]

Ya I'm waiting for the fish store to open back up on Wednesday to call and talk to the owner about the catch location. And ya I also got a pair of the steindachneri last week but sadly the male was doa when they arrived.

 

[Mike Wise]

If it came with Cory. pygmaeus then it is unlikely that the apistos are from the Orinoco system where the A. hoignei forms are found. It probably is a form of A. cf. eunotus.

 

[mathew]

What about apistogramma regani? I found pictures online that looks look mine. It's hard for me to get a picture without using some kind of light but it looses it's colors when I do that.

 

[Frank Hättich]

What about apistogramma regani? I found pictures online that looks look mine.

No, it's not A. regani. Among other things the latter shows pronounced vertical stripes in the complete caudal fin, a different caudal spot and often pronounced vertical bars on the body. You may refer to the pictures published on the Aquarium Glaser website under the name A. regani, i.e:

These fish are not A. regani but rather A. sp. Gelbwangen. I told Glaser about the mis-ID but they nevertheless sold them as A. regani.
Anyway, despite the similaritiy in respect to the yellow coloration on the head and belly, your fish aren't A. sp. Gelbwangen either. Besides the different lateral band, caudal spot and much less elongated soft parts of dorsal and anal fin I have never seen any A. sp. Gelbwangen with a split vertical bar.

 

[mathew]

Ok. I see what you are talking about. I'm going to try to get a light on the tank tonight and let them settle in. I'll go back and take some more pictures and tomorrow my local fish store will be open and I can ask them if they know the catch location. It's driving me crazy not knowing exactly what they are.

 

[Frank Hättich]

I'll go back and take some more pictures

Try to take some pictures of the male when displaying or in aggressive mood too. For this you can put a small mirror into the tank, take some photos and then remove the mirror from the tank.

 

[mathew]

Ok. I have a small mirror I have been using for my inka male trying to get him to spawn with the female. I'll do that tonight and see what I can come up with.

 

[mathew]

Ok so this fish cares nothing about the mirror at all. It just swims right past it Everytime. He will glance at his self and just swim off. But I did get a few more photos to see if they will help you.

 

[Frank Hättich]

Your fish look still like a hoignei-related species to me. Especially in the photo were the male is displaying in front of the mirror. It's a pitty that it can't be seen in full side-view in doing so.

 

[mathew]

Your fish look still like a hoignei-related species to me. Especially in the photo were the male is displaying in front of the mirror. It's a pitty that it can't be seen in full side-view in doing so.

I'm going to move them into a bigger tank tonight or tomorrow. They will feel more at home cause it's setup for apistogramma and not just a quarantine tank. That should be easier to hopefully get better pictures of him displaying.

 

[mathew]

I know these aren't very good pictures but I wanted to see if you knew what these were. I will get better pictures of those tonight to.