Is this "Black Chin/Schwarzkinn" ?

[Melanochromis]

Yesterday, some apistogramma under the name "juruensis" arrived at a shop here in Bangkok. Despite my limited knowledge in fish ID, I concluded that they were actually Apistogramma sp. "Black Chin/Schwarzkinn" and bought myself a pair.

Some of the males in that batch had orange lips like the one I bought, although some others didn't show any obvious orange color. One fish in the batch seemed to even have an orange face. As far as I could see they seemed to have some black marking under the mouth, although this was not as obvious as I thought it would be for this species. Perhaps it's faded because the fish were still frightened after being shipped?

Here's some pictures of the male of my pair. Can anyone confirm if it is truly a Black Chin/Schwarzkinn? Thank you very much!

One more question, is it possible that the real juruensis may be mixed in in the same batch? Or is it more likely that every fish in the lot is the Black Chin/Schwarzkinn?

Thanks !!

 

[Mike Wise]

I have never seen a true A. juruensis with an orange lip, only blue. The fish are A. sp. Schwarzkinn/Black-chin. A. juruensis live in the Rio Juruá in southwest Brazil. A. sp. Schwarzkinn lives in the area around Iquitos, Peru, over 1000 km to the west. They will never be exported together. Of course, they could be mixed by an importer, but it is very unlikely. True A. juruensis are very expensive (and rare) fish.

 

[slimbolen99]

I know the first time I bought "jurensis", expecting "jurensis", and found out they were "schwarzkinn", I was sorely disappointed. BUT, the schwarzkinn's turned out to be my favorite apisto ever. The males are stunning, and the females are equally when breeding. My male is actually kinda famous in our local fish club...he's everyone's favorite apisto. I hope you enjoy yours as well.

 

[Melanochromis]

I have never seen a true A. juruensis with an orange lip, only blue. The fish are A. sp. Schwarzkinn/Black-chin. A. juruensis live in the Rio Juruá in southwest Brazil. A. sp. Schwarzkinn lives in the area around Iquitos, Peru, over 1000 km to the west. They will never be exported together. Of course, they could be mixed by an importer, but it is very unlikely. True A. juruensis are very expensive (and rare) fish.

Thanks a lot for the information. I thought it would be really great if you could get both species from one batch. But I'll keep hoping that someday I'll get to see a true juruensis too.

I know the first time I bought "jurensis", expecting "jurensis", and found out they were "schwarzkinn", I was sorely disappointed. BUT, the schwarzkinn's turned out to be my favorite apisto ever. The males are stunning, and the females are equally when breeding. My male is actually kinda famous in our local fish club...he's everyone's favorite apisto. I hope you enjoy yours as well.

I can definitely see how that happened. This one of mine also has his charm. He's a very lively fish that is quite pretty with many subtle colors. Too bad, I can't capture them in the photo.
:biggrin: