Which type of agassizii is this?

[Melanochromis]

The following three fish came in the same batch. These very pretty fish were labelled as Apistogramma agassizii "Tefe".

Having read Mike Wise's explanation on A. sp. "Tefe" and A. agassizii "Tefe", I think it's obvious they are not the former species, but could they be A. agassizii "Tefe" or perhaps another variety of A. agassizii? Can anyone ID the variety and is it an aquarium or wild strain?

Thanks to anyone who replies

 

[Mike Wise]

Well all of the populations/forms/species in the A. agassizii superspecies tend to have males that are polychomatic. Therefore, color isn't especially useful for ID purposes. Looking at these photos, they all look like the holotype form found along the Amazon from about Manaus Brazil, in the east, to Genaro Herrera Peru, in the west. This range includes the Rio Tefé. The Tefé population looks much like all of the others. Without knowing where a specimens was collected, it is hard to know to which population it belongs. Personally, if they were sold as being from the Tefé, then I would call them A. agassizii Tefé.

 

[Melanochromis]

Thank you Mike. It's amazing how many different looking agassizii-like fish are labelled Tefe. But I haven't seen an agassizii like this before. Its bright yellow is beautiful but somewhat unfamiliar. That's why I thought it might be selectively bred.

 

[Mike Wise]

I've seen photos of similar fish from several different rivers in Peru and western Brazil. The yellow is just 1 of 2 or more color morphs that are mixed together at a location. Like I said before, "color isn't especially useful for ID purposes" for A. agassizii.

 

[Melanochromis]

I see. Hopefully yellow morphs like this will show up more often. They certainly are lovely.

 

[Gwendal]

Really nice pair.





1 saludo