FEMALE MENDEZI ID QUESTION

[Ade205]

Hi all.

Just a quick question.... do female Mendezi has one or two lateral spots?

I randomly dropped on a pair yesterday very cheaply and had to aquire them!!! Issue is I'm now doubting ID as many pictures I've found online seem to show one lateral spot where as the fish I've just acquired has two. Also do females have any caudal fin pattern?

I've attached a few pics, sorry not the best but show lateral spots and some pattern in caudal.



Thanks Ade.

 

[TCMontium]

Mendezi females have just one lateral spot and very little to no coloration on the caudal fin as far as I observed on my female and could see on the internet.
Maybe this is an Apistogramma elizabethae? The photo quality is very low though and not all the fins are clearly visible.

 

[Ade205]

Mendezi females have just one lateral spot and very little to no coloration on the caudal fin as far as I observed on my female and could see on the internet.
Maybe this is an Apistogramma elizabethae? The photo quality is very low though and not all the fins are clearly visible.

Thanks for reply. Funny you say Elizabethae as I have two females already and am after a male! If I've acquired another female lize I won't be impressed! Funny thing is this fish does have vertical barring in caudal fin like Lizes do and as you say, two lateral spots also point even more towards Lizes. What's also interesting is the male 'Mendezi' I got with this fish has uneven lyre tails with the top one much longer than the bottom.... I originally thought maybe been nipped but I'm now wondering if could just possibly be a male Elizabethae developing his lanceolate caudal as described in Cichlid atlas 2 where the top lyre tails of the caudal develops first....

I will try and get some decent pictures of both but if they were to be both Elizabethae it would be my biggest peice of luck ever lol
If I've a male Mendezi and yet another female Lizes I won't be impressed lol!!
But there certainly is a very good chance of wrong Id as shop I got them from hadn't ordered them and had never had Mendezi before... They'd come in with lastest delivery and they had priced them the same as other Apistos they had which were just Cacs and Borellii which are both common in uk lfs and relatively cheap. Paid a quarter the price that I paid for my confirmed Elizabethae! I'm very intrigued now!

Ade.

 

[Ade205]

Quick update... been trying to get a picture of the male flaring but no luck. Pretty sure he has two lateral spots though his stripe is very dark so tricky to tell. However I did take a video of tank in shop and managed to get a still of one of the males showing spots very clearly. This is not the fish I brought as I went for one that had more red and looked more active and foraging, but just so happened spots were very clear on this one as I filmed tank... here's the pic...

Is he a Elizabethae? I'm getting more hopeful, though my untrained eye isn't to be trusted! I'm gonna try a mirror and see if can get mine to flare so can see dorsal and caudal better.

Ade.

 

[Mike Wise]

Yes, the fish in the last photo is a male A. elizabethae. The male (the one with a strong striped caudal) might be a male A. mendezi, but I'd expect to see a couple of abdominal stripes. Hard to say what it is from this one photo.

 

[Ade205]

Yes, the fish in the last photo is a male A. elizabethae. The male (the one with a strong striped caudal) might be a male A. mendezi, but I'd expect to see a couple of abdominal stripes.

Thank you very much Mike.

Just to be clear, your saying the fish with the Red chin is A. Elizabethea?

And this fish....

Is possibly A. Mendezi?

Thsnks, Ade.

 

[Ade205]

Quick update... the Mendezi that turned out to be a Elizabethae is doing well and getting to know his two new girls!

Funny but his Red colouring is nowhere near as bright as in shop though maybe result of colour of water as his current tank is heavy with tannins. He's looking very active and healthy though and settled in well....

Still not sure if the female I brought with him as a pair is also Elizabethae, but interestingly he was quite aggressive towards that fish but now he's with two confirmed Lizes his temperament towards them is totally different. All I can say is the other female has vertical baring in caudal and two lateral spots so if anyone knows other species with these marks I'd love to hear.

The Lizes will be cory free very soon so hopefully they will get down to it lol
They also have both Pencils and Green Rasboras in with them and the females are suddenly showing lots of aggression towards the pencils so may remove them. They show zero aggression towards the Rasboras.

Ade.

 

[Mike Wise]

Thank you very much Mike.

Just to be clear, your saying the fish with the Red chin is A. Elizabethea?

Yes, A. elizabethae

And this fish....
View attachment 7758
Is possibly A. Mendezi?

It might be, but it doesn't look like a normal A. mendezi. Does it ever show stripes below the lateral band?

 

[Ade205]

It might be, but it doesn't look like a normal A. mendezi. Does it ever show stripes below the lateral band?

Not that I've seen Mike. One thing I've noticed is the fish has moments of being almost silver/grey with a slight blue sheen... when showing this colouration the fish alway loses the lateral band and shows two lateral spots. This only happens higher up in water columb so some of this effect maybe simply lighting. I've not seen anything even remotely similar from any of the elizabethea under the same lights though.

Thank you for reply, I will try and get some good pictures of the fish.

Ade.

 

[Ade205]

Hi again.

Right, got a few more pics after lots of attempts... this fish is more elusive than Lord Lucan!

Managed to get some with dorsal erect and one with good detail of caudal markings. Fish is approx 5cm in length.

Hope these pics are more helpful and Mike or someone can Id this fish!

Thanks, Ade.

 

[Mike Wise]

It looks like a female A. elizabethae. It certainly looks different from what it looked like in the first photo.

 

[Ade205]

Thank you Mike.... rest assured it is same fish, think my photography skills are more the issue!!

Ade.