Apistogramma ID help

[bettamuse]

These apistogramma came from a Peru exporter as wild caught.
Unfortunately that’s about as much info as I have.
The names with them are what they were shipped as.


A.atahuilapa






A.purple




A.guacamayo


Thanks
T

 

[aquaticclarity]

The "A.guacamayo" is A. cacatuoides

The rest will take me some digging but Mike should be able to knock out the ID's for you.

 

[Ruki]

On first and third photo of A. atahualpa you have other Apistogramma, close to Pebas or something else. Second photo is bad, so ID is difficult.

 

[bettamuse]

Would guacamayo be the area the A.cacatuoides comes from?

The first and second pics of A. atahualpa are of the same fish.

 

[Ruki]

Those first fishes can be A. sp "Melgar"/"Nanay".
Wait for Mike for 100% accurate answers. :wink:

 

[Mike Wise]

I have to agree with Lukasz (Ruki). The fist 3 appear to be a eunotus-complex species, possibly A. sp. Nanay/Melgar or something close. The 4th and 5th photos show a Pebas-subcomplex species, probably A. sp. Pebas (Morado/Purple). I can't be absolutely positive because I can't see any markings on the caudal fin of the male (it's out of focus).

 

[bettamuse]

Thankyou for the help,
It took a while but I hope this pic of the male A.sp.purple is better.
He likes to bite more than flare.



These are another two species (well labelled that way) that came in.
This came as
A.sunset




A.marine.

 

[Ruki]

A. sunset is A. atahualpa.
Other two fishes look for me like A. sp. "Pebas" but I may be wrong- we have New Year. :biggrin:

 

[bettamuse]

Thanks Ruki
I have a sneaking suspicion that the purple and marine might be the same species.

And

Happy New Year,

Cheers
Todd

 

[Mike Wise]

Well, the Purple and Sunset are correct. These are commercial names for A. sp. Pebas (Morado/Purple) and A. atahualpa. The A. sp. Marine is a Pebas-subcomplex form. I'd need better photos to be sure which form it is. I get a odd suspicion that it is the same species often sold as A. sp. Papagei (which it is not!). This fish was also called "Roca Eterna" by collectors.

 

[bettamuse]

Thanks all for your help with these guys.
Looking at the invoices I found that the ones I labelled earlier as marine were actually sent as A.galaxy, if that makes any difference to the id of them.
These were sent as the A.marine

All these came in with the bag of A.purple which has me asking is the female pic with the purple a pebas girl.

this is the same fish as above just angry

sorry about the blurry pic of this one.

cheers
Todd

 

[Mike Wise]

OK. A. sp.Galaxy is a 'catch-all' name for mixed species from northern Peru. Such shipments usually include several cruzi- and Pebas-subcomplex species. These include: A. sp. Putumayo, A. sp. Nanay, A. sp. Pebas, A. sp. Papagai, and A. sp. Roca Eterna. I can't say which species your Galaxy are without seeing photos of the female in brood dress. Now for the new photos:

First 2 photos show a male & female of A. sp. Masken. Photo 3 is of a skinny eunotus-subcomplex species. I can't say which because it shows none of the diagnostic black markings. Photo 4 looks like a species in the cruzi-complex, but the photo isn't good enough to say which species it is. Photo 5 looks like A. sp. Nanay/Melgar, so if it's the same fish as in photo 4 ... . Photo 6 is of a female or immature specimen of a Pebas-subcomplex species, possibly same as the other Pebas-subcomplex species.

If these fish all came together, then either the importer, wholesaler or retailer didn't to a great job of separating fish from different collecting locations.

 

[Tom C]

The fish in Photo 4 seems to have a split bar 6, and the other features, included those seen in photo 5, also
point to Apistogramma sp. Schwarzbrust.

Male, straight out of the stream:

A F1 male:

Just my two cents ....

 

[bettamuse]

Oh I just love these "mixed" bags.
They are from the Peru exporter. It would appear that they just put in allsorts to make up the numbers of A.purples.

Tom,
that is the fish I found to be the closes to using the Die Amerikas Apistogrammas band 2, page 77, from memory. There are so many variances in the eunotus group its mind boggling. Just when I think I've got it nailed I turn the page and Bam! my theory is shot to hell.


How do I tell the difference between the females from the pebas and enotus groups?

thanks
Todd

 

[Mike Wise]

How do I tell the difference between the females from the pebas and enotus groups?

Give them time. Males will grow larger and show long extensions on the dorsal and anal fins.

 

[bettamuse]

The fish that came in as A galaxy have spawned.
Hopefully this may help narrow down what species it is.
Here is a pic of the female in brood colour.

thanks
Todd

 

[Mike Wise]

I'm not really certain, but probably a form of A. sp. Pebas, based on the shape of the caudal patch. The pattern of lateral spots is different on opposite sides. The pattern on the photos (female facing right) are typical for Pebas. The middle photo is atypical. It is like the pattern seen on Roca Eterna, but the caudal patch is different.