Nannochromis and Apisto ID

[Adam - Sydney]

These were the 2 types of fish i bought yesterday. The apistos didnt look like I expected maulbruter to look (though ive never seen them in real life before) just wanted to check i got what i paid for. The other is nannochromis labelled in the shop as nudiceps although i think it looks much more like transvestitus. Any help would be great to put my mind at ease. If anyone would like more photos ill see what i can do.

Adam

Apistogramma sp. maulbruter

Nannochromis transvestitus

 

[Fisherking]

Hi, the apistogramma look like bitaeniata to me, but you are right about the nannochromis.

 

[mervin]

that no Apistogramma sp. maulbruter, it looks like a bitaeniata alright !

 

[Adam - Sydney]

Are you guys absolutely definate that
1.) They aren't maulbruter
2.) They are bitaeniata
They are from Peru where i believe both species come from.

Adam

 

[Mike Wise]

The top 2 photos show what look like female A. bitaeniata; the bottom is of a young male.

 

[Adam - Sydney]

How definate is it that these fish arent what i paid for? Because if they arent I am going to take them back. They are nice little fish, but Id rather buy more nannochromis if they are not maulbruter.

Adam

 

[Mike Wise]

They absolutely are NOT A. sp. Maulbrüter. The Mouthbrooder is related to A. cacatuoides and A. sp. Breitbinden, members of the trifasciata-lineage (3 infraorbital & 5 dental pores). The fish you have show the small metallic blue lip-patch located at the corner of the mouth. This is found on ALL species in the agassizii-lineage (3 infraorbital & 4 dental pores) - including A. bitaeniata. This "aggie-patch" is not found on Maulbrüter. Maulbrüter has a deeper body that is slightly compressed, laterally (more like cacatuoides). The length of the head is unusually large compared to the body. Females show a blotch on the middle of the body that is more like a band-&-spot (similar to the band on female A. panduro, which is why it has also been called "Brustband/Breast-band".).

Your fish, however, do not show the color on the face that is typical for Peruvian bitaeniata. Yellow gill covers with few blue metallic spots/streaks are more commonly seen on Brazilian forms of the species. My guess is that they are a domestically bred (probably in Singapore) Brazilian form of A. bitaeniata. Don't be too hard on the dealer. He probably bought them in good faith as Maulbrüter & doesn't know the difference.

 

[Randall]

Nanochromis spp.

Hello Adam,

I always defer to Mike Wise on all matters Apistogramma. As for the Nanochromis sp., Mike is right as well. You have a young male N. transvestitus. The name N. nudiceps is commonly used to label N. parilus among retailers. This is the first time I've ever heard of N. nudiceps being used to label N. transvestitus.

Good luck!

Randall Kohn

 

[a.d.wood]

Hi Randall,

Just to pick up on the N. transvestitus, I understood that the vertical barring on the tail was indicative of the female (with the male only have a slight black/white flash on the top edge of the caudal fin). Have to admit that I haven't seen any juveniles though, do they all have this barring and the males lose this as they mature????

Thanks

Andrew

 

[Adam - Sydney]

Not sure what happened to the reply I just wrote so here goes.

The shop, was had good faith and they will be very disapointed that this fish was mislabelled when it was sold, this was a big shipment for them and its unlucky. Apart from that, thank you very much for all the help and replies and sorry i pushed for information.

Thank you all

Adam

ps. (I thought tail stripes and the pink belly were an indication of a female as well in transvestitus.)

 

[Randall]

Nanochromis transvestitus

Hello guys,

Randall stands corrected. Yes, only female Nanochromis transvestitus exhibit distinctive vertical black and white barring on the caudal fin. Sexual dichromatism becomes more evident as the fish mature. My mistake--the image above depicts a subadult female.

Thanks for pointing this out.

All the best,

Randall Kohn

 

[Mike Wise]

Sorry, Randall, I meant the bottom Apisto photo.:redface: