A. pappagallo?

[Radek]

Hello everybody. I have a problem with the identification of my fishes species:






Those fishes have been bought as A. papagallo (Peru catch) but the male colouration seem to contradict such a qualification. The separated female caudal spot as well.
What do you think of my fishes? Any help will be very appreciated.

Radek

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
First of all the normal disclaimer that I am really bad at these.
I'm pretty sure it is somewhere in the Pebas/Papapagei/Nanay grouping.
From what I remember colour isn't very useful for getting which one. ID is much more based on the location, markings and whether the caudal spot is attached/detached/double etc.

Have a look here: <http://apisto.sites.no/slekt.aspx?gruppeID=1&ViewSelected=Truehttp://apisto.sites.no/slekt.aspx?gruppeID=1&ViewSelected=True> As you may have seen from the current "Amazon" thread Tom C is in Peru at the moment.

Mike W. will probably come on later and tell you which it is, but we have had some threads a while ago on these: <http://forum.apistogramma.com/showthread.php?t=7982> <http://www.forum.apistogramma.com/showthread.php?t=8211> & <http://forum.apistogramma.com/showthread.php?t=7534>

cheers Darrel

 

[czarteros]

From what I remember colour isn't very useful for getting which one.
cheers Darrel

In case of males of these particular species it is. Males of A. papagei (contrary to A.Pebas) never show a pattern in the caudal fin (visible on enclosed photo).

Regarding the female - I have no idea.

 

[Mike Wise]

From what I see in the few photos, I believe czarteros is correct about the male. It looks like A. sp. Pebas. The female, however, does not look like either A. sp. Papagai nor A. sp. Pebas. It shows too many flank spots in brood dress for either of these species. It also only shows a simple caudal spot, instead of the double caudal patch seen on Pebas-like species. My guess is that the female (if it came together with the male from the wild) is A. sp. Putumayo. They occur in different locations in the Río Ampiyacu. It is possible that they were shipped mixed. And, yes, the 2 species are closely related enough that they can cross. Domestic bred specimens of "A. sp. Algodon" often are a mix.

 

[Radek]

Thank all of you for your answers.
Let me show one more picture of my male. This one has been taken in another tank.



What one can see here are noticeable abdominal stripes and the caudal spot of a shape different than on the previous picture. Moreover, the skull shape seems to be more similiar to that of the female. Is is possible that my male is an A. putumayo male?

I found in the internet a picture of a male quite similiar to mine described as A. sp. putumayo .
http://s493.photobucket.com/albums/...sp putumayo/?action=view&current=DSC04047.jpg
Could you confirm that this picture is described correctly?

 

[Mike Wise]

The photo at http://s493.photobucket.com/albums/r...t=DSC04047.jpg seems similar to A. sp. Putumayo. The caudal spot appears different (larger and more oval), however. This could be only due to mood or it might be a population difference. Without seeing the fish in several different moods and in more several different photos, it would be hard to say which.

As for your male, the original photo shows dark markings that are invisible in the second photo. The double caudal patch is visible on the first photo, which is diagnostic for Pebas-subcomplex species. I will admit that it can expand and contract depending on mood, but it is always a double patch. If you can show photos of your male that shows the dark markings like in the original photo, but shows only a single caudal spot, then it might be A. sp. Putumayo. Only multiple photos will help.

 

[Radek]

Unfortunately, the only photo of my male that I have not presented yet you can see below.


Today I visited the shop with my camera hoping to take some more males photos but there were only females there, no males anymore.