What form of agassizii?

[ampdaman]

hello there. i just bought this pair from my LFS and i cant figure out what morph of agassizii they are. any ideas?

sorry for the poor image quality. need to find my camera (cell phone cameras suck)

 

[ampdaman]

also ais the female even the same species as the male?

 

[fishgeek]

i dont think anyone will be able tell from those photos unfortunately

andrew

 

[ampdaman]

ya im going to try and get better pics asap

 

[ampdaman]

better pics

ok here are some better pics

male

male flared up at reflection

female

any ideas on what morph? i really cant figure it out. if you cant see it, on the male, the tail is mostly a light maroon color with a black/blueish edge. i really hope to find out what species because they started courting and if i get babies it would be nice to know what kind. thanks in advance

-Aaron

 

[Mike Wise]

I'm sorry but the photos are too out-of-focus to identify the form/species. If they didn't come with a precise collecting locality, then one should not be used.

 

[ampdaman]

If they didn't come with a precise collecting locality, then one should not be used.

Im sorry i didnt understand that part of the responce. unless it meant that if they didnt come with the name of the color morph then a color morph shouldnt be used

 

[starforsaken]

I believe Mike Wise was trying to suggest, that when you purchased the fish, if they did not come listed as Apistogramma agassizii "location", then there is no point in trying to figure it out.
Mike Wise has also recently stated that A. agassizii is highly variable for its colour, within regions. So the colour of your fish can not acurately determine where it was collected from, only collection information from the retailer/wholesaler can give you a better idea.

 

[ampdaman]

hey thanks for clearing that up. so i guess the region they r from doesnt matter.

 

[Mike Wise]

so i guess the region they r from doesnt matter.

It depends on your interests. If you want to sell them as A. agassizii, then it doesn't matter. If you are interested in keeping pure forms/species, then it is important.

Apistogramma agassizii, as it presently is understood, is a superspecies. A superspecies is a scientifically recognized species that has populations/forms that might be distinct species, or populations that are moving toward being separate species. They inhabit well delineated areas of distribution and show differences in shape, finnage, and markings that are sufficiently distinct to indicate that they may be distinct species. It depends on the ideas of the researcher if there is one or many species. At present I see in A. agassizii at least 5 different species:

A. agassizii (type) - lower parts of tributaries of the Rio Solimões & Peruvian Amazon
A. cf. agassizii Broad Black Caudal Seam - southern tributaries of the Amazon below the Rio Negro
A. cf. agassizii "Net" - northern tributaries of the Amazon below the Rio Negro
A. cf. agassizii "Purus" - middle Rio Purus
A. cf. agassizii "Pastel" - lower Rio Ucayali

This list does not include A. sp. Tefé, A. gephyra, A. cf. gephyra, A. sp. Blue-spangle/Blauspiegel & A. sp. Vitoria do Xingu which are all agassizii-like species that could be considered part of the A. agassizii superspecies. Nor does it include populations of the Broad Black Caudal Seam form that have distinct differences in caudal pattern & distribution.

 

[ampdaman]

wow so if i really wanted to find out the exact habitat location of these guys then i would have to do alot of research. well if i get babies then i guess i will have to just sell them as agassizii lol. thanks for the reply