Gephyra vs Paucisquamis female and fry

[demoura]

Hi,

I need some help to identify some Apistos.
Situation: I had in my tank a female, acquired as Paucisquamis. She was on the tank as the single apisto for a while (together with Tetras, Corys and Discus).
One day I found at my LFS 3 males: Gephyra, Paucisquamis and Elizabetae. Bought the 3 of them.
After 1 week in the tank, the female got yellow, entered a coconut cave and spawned.
Before she came out of the cave with fry, the Paucisquamis and the Elizabetae, which were significantly smaller than the gephyra died.
The female managed to raise to juvenile in the community tank 3 young apistos (it was really rewarding watching her fighting a Discus). The 3 are now probably 5-6 weeks old and measuring between 10 and 15mm.
However, I and really suspecting the pair was gephyra and not Paucisquamis, as she never really got very aggressive towards the remaining male and he does not attack the 3 little apistos.
On the other hand, although it's been 10 days or so that she is not guarding the 3 anymore, but still yellowish, they are not breeding again (they sometimes get close to each other and flare, got on the side, etc but no eggs).
The little ones already show the blue dots on the face, but the tail has no shape so I can't say from the fry what species they are.
Is there an easy way to differentiate a gephyra female from a paucisquamis? Or the fry at this age?
I tried to take pictures but didn't have success, if someone has good pictures of the 2 females to share or the fry I can try to compare.
all the best

Marcelo

 

[Mike Wise]

Fry? Unlikely. Females? Definitely! A. gephyra females have no pattern in the caudal except the extension of the lateral band into the tail. A. paucisquamis females show a pattern of spot rows in the tail. They are also more slender, but side-by-side comparison makes it easier to see.

 

[demoura]

Hi Mike, thanks a lot.
Do you have picture of the Paucisquamis?
I am still trying to get a shot but got only very bad ones.
Looking at my female, I see the extension of the lateral band and do see some pattern of spots, not very strong or marked, but there are spots for sure.

regards

Marcelo

 

[Mike Wise]

Most books on apistos show photos of this species. Also google the name on the 'image' section.

 

[demoura]

I finally got some pictures, not perfect but maybe helpful.
the first 2 are from the "fry", now juveniles indeed. Maybe the blue dots pattern show something.
The others are from the female (and Gephyra male together that still have on the tank).
In the last and in the third to last I can see more discrete spots in the female tail.
In the past 2 days they are chasing each other sometimes and the female now not only do not guard the juveniles but also is sometimes hostile to them.

regards

 

[Mike Wise]

I'm pretty sure that your male and female are the same species. Definitely not A. paucisquamis and don't look like A. gephyra either. I would say that this is a Rio Negro population of A. cf. agassizii (Netz).

 

[demoura]

Thanks a lot.
In this case I will just wait and give the time to decide to breed again.
In the meanwhile is interesting to watch the juveniles get less shy day after day and adventure in the tank.

 

[demoura]

Hi,

Just got 2 new pictures of the largest of the juveniles. It is probably around 20mm (3/4 inch) now.
Still not possible for me to identify sex and species, maybe you can.

all the best

Marcelo

 

[demoura]

the other picture

 

[Mike Wise]

Too young/small for me to identify sex/species. Sorry.