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What type of apistogramma is this?

mantisfan101

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Seems like pics didn’t show up; here they are and I got them from petco.
 

Ekona

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5 Year Member
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453
Well you lucked out. Can you get photos of the female and maybe a better photo of the male with fins
more open?
 

mantisfan101

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52
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Tried my best, these guys won’t stay still for anything, even if they’re flaring at their own reflection.
Here’s a video of the females eating and the male doing his thing-
 

mantisfan101

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52
Also if it helps the females seem to have long ventrals just like a male but also have the regular yellow coloration of the body.
 

Ekona

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It looks like wild form A. cacatuoides based on dorsal fins extensions, abdominal stripes, caudal fin shape and pattern and lateral line/caudal spot pattern. The black coloration in the fins in the first photos you posted is somewhat unique (in my experience) and thus it could be an A. cf. cacatuoides form. In the video the fish appear to be a more standard wild A. cacatuoides form, say from peru. I'm also of the opinion that the fishes shown in the video are all males, (with the possible exception of the third fish in the series) perhaps younger and smaller than the final larger one, but still showing male traits.

Did you purchase all of the ones the Petco had? If not you might want to get them all in hopes of getting (more) females?
 

mantisfan101

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52
They only had 4 and the last one was getting picked on by the ithers; plus, he was missing his caudal tail which I assumes the others ripped off. Here’s a video of one of my suspect females-
 

Ekona

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453
Video shows female, and photos show both male and female, so you should be good to go with breeding them if you choose to. Looks like a good setup with plenty of leaf litter. Keep us posted!
 

Ekona

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It sure could be A.allpahuayo, but I'm not seeing a clear separation between the lateral band and the caudal peduncle spot, as it diagnostic of A. allpahuayo.
 

Ekona

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But more connection than most A. allpahuayo? And do not female A. cacatuoides females have the same black on their chins as the female pictured here?
 

Frank Hättich

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Location
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Regarding the caudal spot it could be an exceptional specimen of both species in question. But imo the shape and size of the female's chin marking and the bluish/greyish lips of the male in the first photos point towards A. cacatuoides.
 

Ekona

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453
The caudal spot in A. sp. 'Rocafuerte', from my experience, tends to be more of a square and extend somewhat into the caudal fin. And, as Mike W. has pointed out in a previous post, A. sp. 'Rocafuerte' tends to have diagonal rows of dark streaks. You can see both characteristics in photos below of fish I had some time ago labeled as A. sp. 'Rocafuerte'.
Also see Tom C.'s site for photos of A. sp. 'Rocafuerte/Shaly'.
45eG07.jpg


IG4Hhi.jpg


Your fish shows what appear to be more clearly defined rows of abdominal stripes, and the caudal spot appears to more closely resemble that of A. cacatuoides.

Also, there have been recent imports to LFS of wild A. cacutuoides in the US, which would suggest that finding such a Petco is not out of the question. However, I have to wonder what the chances are of Petco receiving a shipment of A. sp. 'Rocafuerte'. Possible as a by-catch of some other more common S.A. fish, but still far less likely than A. cacatuoides. Put it this way, if the fish you purchased at your local Petco turn out to A. sp. 'Rocafuerte', then you have scored big time! But if they are wild A. cacatudoides or A. allpahuayo, you have still scored are very nice find. Let them grow out and continue to take photos, possibly with some side lighting or better overhead lighting to bring out some of the features in your photos. It will be very interesting to see how they develop.
 
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