How to tell Ap.brevis from A. sp. Breitbinden?

[cawa1031]

I love A. sp. Breitbinden
and bought lots of them(in the name of A. sp. Breitbinden ...)

but recently I saw a topic in my local forum
it says Ap.brevis and A. sp. Breitbinden are almost the same in color form
so how can I tell them from each other...??
Please help...


Cawa

 

[Apistt_ed]

the visual differences, from what i could see in my own fish is that A. brevis will not have the extended long dorsal fins, such as A. breitbinden. I was lucky in that I had gotten a undescribed apisto from a shipment sent to a friend of mine, who owns a LFS. I thought they might have been breitbinden (aka Broadband), but never really grew to the size of that close to it. It stayed rather small and never had the huge elongated dorsal fins but instead had connected dorsals with only slight if any extensions. The two fish are similar in color and such but can be distinguished once full grown. These are my own observances only... I'm sure mike would have more to say about the subject. your's are most definitely A. sp broadband breitbinden and GORGEOUS ones!

 

[blueblue]

After reading the photos and Romer's Cichlid Atlas,
I really feel these two species look extremely similar...
For the extended long dorsal fins, some Brevis also have
this features...

Maybe many of the so called "Red breitbinden" that are sold in
local aqua stores (e.g. those in Hong Kong) may actually be
"Red Brevis"!!

 

[blueblue]

Hi cawa, i have browsed through a local forum in HK and found a topic
that is similar to your question. The details can be found in the following
link (P.S.: It's in chinese):
http://www.aqugrass.com./phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=8652

Essentially, an apisto. expert mentioned that
Brevis was once traded with the name of "Dwarf Spirit"
in some markets. However, since its colour is not impressive and the
body shape and fins are also not too appealing, this species
has then faded out in many markets, e.g. we can not find
any fish termed as "Brevis" in Hong Kong... but all kinds of Breitbinden
can be found (even though some look very much like Brevis...)

 

[cawa1031]

the visual differences, from what i could see in my own fish is that A. brevis will not have the extended long dorsal fins, such as A. breitbinden. ...

Dear Apistt_ed :
Thanks for your reply !
Your observation is just like the conclusion of our local forum .
Some one here even said that A. brevis is just like the A. sp. broadband which do not have extended long dorsal fins...
and some elder friedns also told me that A. sp. broadband has more "seperate" dorsal fins...

Now my question is :
So we must wiat them grow to the size when they are big enough (to have elongated dorsal fins) ?
Generally A. sp. broadband begin to elongate dorsal fins after 4 cm.....
And just like blueblue said
some Brevis also have this features...
So when I get a bag of small size wild caught "A. sp. broadband",
I can only take a bet....? @@



Cawa

 

[cawa1031]

Hi cawa, i have browsed through a local forum in HK and found a topic
that is similar to your question. The details can be found in the following
link (P.S.: It's in chinese):
http://www.aqugrass.com./phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=8652

...

Dear blueblue :
Thanks for your reply !!

Mr.genius also reply this question on my forum in the same answer .
But I still can not resolve the problem I mentioned above...
Anyway , thx for your help !

ps.I already ask my DB administrator to find your password in my forum,
and send it to your mail box ~
Please check it !
See U soon !!


Cawa

 

[blueblue]

So when I get a bag of small size wild caught "A. sp. broadband", I can only take a bet....? @@

Hmm.. i am afraid it's really very difficult, if not impossible, to
clearly differentiate them during their infant/small-fish phase...

 

[Mike Wise]

A. brevis should be easily separated from A. sp. Breitbinden by having a prominent caudal spot well separated from the lateral band. It also has a large dark patch on the lower half of the caudal peduncle.

The fish pictured in Römer's atlas obviously is not A. brevis. It is more similar to A. personata & might be a population of A. personata.

 

[blueblue]

Hi Mike, Oh.. I always refer to Romer's book for identification!!
~_~ Anyhow, are there any correct photos of all these three species
for our reference (Brevis, Breitbinden, and Personata)?? Thanks.

A. brevis should be easily separated from A. sp. Breitbinden by having a prominent caudal spot well separated from the lateral band. It also has a large dark patch on the lower half of the caudal peduncle.

The fish pictured in Römer's atlas obviously is not A. brevis. It is more similar to A. personata & might be a population of A. personata.

 

[Mike Wise]

I know of 2 books that correctly identify all 3 species:

Die Buntbarsche Americas, Band 2: Apistogramma & Col by Ingo Koslowski, 2002.

Cichliden Lexikon, Teil 3: Südamerikanishe Zwergbuntbarsche by Wolfgang Staeck, 2003.

The holotype form of A. personata has never been imported live into the hobby. Both of the above authors use the same photo by Uwe Werner that Römer uses for A. brevis, but Staeck labels it A. personata & Koslowski labels it A. cf. personata.

 

[cawa1031]

A. brevis should be easily separated from A. sp. Breitbinden by having a prominent caudal spot well separated from the lateral band. It also has a large dark patch on the lower half of the caudal peduncle.

The fish pictured in Römer's atlas obviously is not A. brevis. It is more similar to A. personata & might be a population of A. personata.

Dear Mike:
Thanks for your reply.
Just like blueblue, I always take Romer's book by my side...
I'll try to find the other 2 books you mentioned.



Cawa