WC Apisto from Peru ID?

[Ekona]

This male apisto came in with A. luelingi from Brian at wildPERU.
I don't know if the photos below are good enough to allow for a proper ID, but they are the best that I can do at the moment, and thought I would post a few pics and see if there is enough detail to get an idea of what they are. Any help appreciated.

This is a very pretty fish, with blue and red on the gill covers, maroon dorsal and caudal fins with gold highlights, blue and orange pelvic fins, blue and orange anal fin. At times the caudal spot appears to be two separate spots instead of one.

This image shows the light green scales present below the lateral line.

This photo shows a little bit more of the caudal pattern, basically a maroon colored fin with golden spots scattered throughout.

This is the male with the lateral line showing more clearly

Here is a female

 

[aquaticclarity]

Welcome to the wonder mess that is known as the eunotus complex!

 

[aquaticclarity]

And here I was bummed to have missed out on the luelingi from Brian. I have the sp. aff. Urtagei coming next week.

 

[afra]

I got some Luelingi from Brian too. The male has the start of a lyretail and he came in with 4 definite females and one that I am not sure of yet. The Urtagei look something closer to this with the dorsal starting to get fuller and taller.

 

[Ekona]

Welcome to the wonder mess that is known as the eunotus complex!

Thanks, Jeff. You certainly have some fine looking apistos from the eunotus complex (I voted for your photo of one in the photo contest )

I can see some similarities in the fish from Brian and the eunotus. From what I have been able to gather , however, I'm wondering if these may be something from the resticulosus complex - possibly A. urteagai or A. cf. resticulosus. These, I think, were collected in the Rio Madre de Dios drainage near Puerto Maldonado, Peru. Do eunotus occur in that area? One thing I see is that in these the 7-bar appears to have the downward angle on it which would place it in the caetei-complex?, I'm not sure if caetei-complex fish occur in that area, either.

I got one pair of luelingi from Brian that were possibly the least colorful apisto I've ever seen, he also sent 1 male and 4 females (i think) of these and I'm glad he sent them (instead of more luelingi ) - as they are way more interesting in my opinion.

Whatever they are, they are becoming a favorite apisto.

 

[Ekona]

I got some Luelingi from Brian too. The male has the start of a lyretail and he came in with 4 definite females and one that I am not sure of yet. The Urtagei look something closer to this with the dorsal starting to get fuller and taller.

Nice, glad you got both those species! Would love to see pics of the A. urteagai if you ever take some.
Good luck with them!

 

[aquaticclarity]

Thanks, Jeff. You certainly have some fine looking apistos from the eunotus complex (I voted for your photo of one in the photo contest )

I have a picture in a photo contest? I didn't enter it!!! Where is the post? But thank you for the complement.

 

[Ekona]

I have a picture in a photo contest? I didn't enter it!!! Where is the post? But thank you for the complement.

Was there not a photo of an orange tailed eunotus from your post about the ID quest? I thought I voted on that or maybe it wasn't the photo contest but something else? I dunno. Maybe I gotta get back onto coffee

 

[aquaticclarity]

I started an ID thread with that fish and a bunch of pics. Maybe that was it.

 

[Ekona]

I started an ID thread with that fish and a bunch of pics. Maybe that was it.

Yes, I saw that, and I thought one of those photos was in the contest - perhaps it was someone else who submitted a similar photo? - anyway, those fish of yours really transformed over time - amazing apistos!

 

[Mike Wise]

Ekona, your fish are members of the resticulosa-complex. Based on the abdominal markings and caudal fin pattern, your fish look more like A. cf. resticulosa from the Rio Madre de Dio (and Rio Acre) than A. urteagai. So that would be my best guess based on the photos provided.

 

[Ekona]

Thank you, Mike. After taking another look at Tom's site, they do look to be just about identical to the A. cf. resticulosa photo there, so I'd have to agree with you. Your article there and all photos from Tom really are a great resource. Much appreciated. It's also great that Brian is bringing these wild apistos in. The A. cf. resticulosa are really very nice.
Dave

 

[Ekona]

Got an actual camera to work with - here are a few photos that show the A. cf. resticulosa somewhat more clearly than the above photos. Nice little apisto, with lots of color changes and a subtle beauty.

Male at feeding time - he gets an interesting pattern on his body. All the little white specs in the scene are not dust on the aquarium glass, but actually micro-organisms that have colonized the water column (I think they might arise from the sphagnum moss i'm using in the tank?), not sure what they are, but if these apistos ever produce free-swimming fry, the fry should have plenty of food right from the get-go.

Another photo of the same male showing caudal pattern a little better

A calm female? showing touches of the same colors as the male.

Another female? showing some bluish color in the gill cover area.

I think this is another female. This one generally shows much darker black markings along the scale edges on it's sides and I'm wondering, if it is a female, if it might be a different species (A. urteagai?) than the first two.

 

[Ekona]

With my new camera, I'm able to get much clearer pictures of the characteristics of the fish I received from Brian Pekins. What I am noticing is that in the photo of the female above and in this displaying male, it looks as if these fish show the characteristic of the downward angled 7th bar. My understanding is that this a characteristic is more likely to appear in A. cf. urteagai. Given these clearer photos, any opinions?

 

[Ekona]

Another view of the male showing the extent of the abdominal steaks below the lateral band and also the downward angled 7th bar.

And a female clearly showing the downward angled 7th bar.

 

[Mike Wise]

This feature is found on many species of the caetei-, Xingu-, and resticulosa-complex. You can't take only one feature and expect to identify a species, especially species of the regani-group. One of the important diagnostic features of A. urteagai is the abdominal markings, particularly in neutral mood. Dark markings are broader and mostly restricted to the edges of the first 2 rows of scale just below the lateral band. On A. (cf.) resticulosa forms, the abdominal markings are usually seen as narrow diagonal streaks (dark edges to the scales) that extend almost to the ventral margin of the body while in neutral mood.

 

[Ekona]

Thank you, Mike. I was hoping the photos above would clearly show the abdominal markings, as I remember your comment about the importance of that feature. Looks like a cf. resticulosa feature on this fish.

 

[Ekona]

About the downward angled 7th bar occurring in many species of the caetei-, Xingu-, and resticulosa-complex, found this video of A. gossei in it's natural habitat, and noticed that A. gossei also shows the same feature. See time 3:34.