In Apistogramma panduro from Peru (drainage of the Rio Ucayali, east of Jenaro Herrera) the females are absolutely emaciated. They are at least as beautiful as the males, if not more so; they fight as if they were males, and they show marked polychromatism. Polychromatism, or multicolorism, is when animals are individually, not species-specifically, differently colored.
The phenomenon of polychromatism is found among Apistogramma in males of many species. There are e.g. red, blue or yellow morphs, which all live together at the same locality. In A. panduro on the other hand all males look more or less the same, but each female can be recognized by its individually distinctive black markings.
At the moment we can offer A. panduro in splendid wildcatches and as beautiful offsprings.
For our customers: the animals have code 626203 (wild catch) and 626213 (offspring) on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply wholesale.
When this beautiful Apistogramma first arrived in January 2003, we were thrilled. At that time we wrote:
„King Barbarossa lives!
A new, wonderful dwarf cichlid has now been imported from Peru for the first time. The species is still unknown both scientifically and aquaristically.
The species is collected in the Tapiche river, a tributary of the Ucayali river, near Requena. Mr Edgard Panduro named the species Apistogramma “BARBAROJA”, i.e. “red beard”, because of the conspicuous red spots on the face. While in the last time mainly new species and new variants around Apistogramma cruzi and A. nijsseni made the hearts of the dwarf cichlid fans beat faster, this Apistogramma is from a completely different site. It reminds in various respects of A. bitaeniata, which is also one of the most beautiful Apistogramma species. At first sight, however, the new “Redbeard” can be distinguished from all known Apistogramma species by the large tail spot, which has not yet become known from any dwarf cichlid in this form.“
Then, in July 2004, Ready and Kullander described the species as Apistogramma eremnopyge based on specimens collected two years earlier by Oliver Lucanus in the Rio Pintuyacu (drainage of the Rio Itaya), 48 km on the road from Iquitos to Nauta (Loreto Province in Peru).
Since then, unfortunately, it has become quite quiet about this pretty little fish. Sexually mature wild specimens are usually not larger than 5 cm, females always stay smaller, but it is of course possible that the species grows a bit larger if kept in aquaria for a long time. In any case, it is a true dwarf cichlid.
We are very happy to have this species in our fishhouse again after a long time. Currently it is called Apistogramma “Diamond” in the trade, in the past it was sometimes called Apistogramma sp. “Fresa” or “Strawberry” (both mean strawberry).
For our customers: the animals have code 628792 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply wholesale.
The dwarf cichlid Apistogramma agassizii has a distribution area that extends through practically the entire Amazon. With many of its genus comrades it is completely different, they often occur only locally and form then also location variants. Agassiz’ dwarf cichlid has so far successfully resisted all attempts to divide it. It is true that some particularly striking colorings are known – for example the “Tefe” with its zigzag pattern or the red-backed “Santarem”. But it is shown again and again that even with these extremes only relatively few males correspond to the ideal picture and with a larger number of wild-caught there are always also normally colored males. And the females all look the same anyway….
The matter does not get easier if you consider that almost every Apistogramma species in nature shows polychromatism (= multicolorism) of the males. So there are males with e.g. a higher proportion of red, those with a higher proportion of blue, etc. Under aquarium conditions one can select for the desired color within a few generations and then get uniform looking strains. But in nature it is not like that.
We have very pretty wild-caught Apistogramma agassizii from Peru, i.e. the upper reaches of the Amazon, in the stock right now. As is usual with wild-caught fish, they are about 30% smaller than their cousins that grew up in the aquarium when they reach sexual maturity. In the wild, there just isn’t as abundant food. But the coloration of the „wild ones“ is really very, very pretty, both the animals with more red and the animals with more blue in the tail fin.
For our customers: the fish have code 614073 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply wholesale.
The first reports about the brood care behavior of this dwarf cichlid in the early 2000s were a sensation. Mouthbrooding Apistogramma – one had never heard of it before. Later it turned out that things are complicated. Some of the females of A. barlowi, as this species is now called, show quite normal Apistogramma brood care behavior. They spawn in burrows, the male guards the territory with his harem, and the female cares for spawn and young. However, some of the females take the young into their mouths after hatching and keep them there until they are independent. These females are thus so-called larvophilic mouthbrooders. And in isolated cases it even happened that also the male takes parts of the brood into the mouth and takes part in the brood care!
So with Apistogramma barlowi, which originates from the Pebas district in Peru, one can make really exciting observations. It is by no means understood yet if brood care behavior is inherited or if it is a plastic behavior linked to certain environmental factors (yet to be explored).
For our customers: the fish have code 624983 on our stock list. Please note that we only supply wholesale.
The double stripe (= the translation of the word diplotaenia) is still a rare occurrence in the aquarium. For successful breeding you have to reach pretty deep into the bag of tricks of water chemistry and the animals are also relatively unproductive. This unusual Apistogramma species originates from the black water of the Rio Negro, where it lives mostly over bare sandy bottoms in larger breeding colonies. With a maximum total length of 5 cm (i.e. including the caudal fin) it belongs to the smallest cichlid species at all.
More than 20 years ago (1999) Mario Wilhelm brought back from an expedition to Brazil for the first time this beautiful dwarf cichlid from the Rio Abacaxis. An alternative name to Apistogramma sp. Wilhelmi is therefore A. sp. Abacaxis. This river, a well known area for discus fishes, belongs to the drainage of the Rio Madeira. A. sp. Wilhelmi is not yet described scientifically, consequently there is no scientific name for the species.
Apistogramma sp. Wilhelmi belongs, together with the numerous variants of A. agassizii, A. gephyra and A. pulchra in the closer relationship of A. agassizii. A. sp.Wilhelmi differs from the other species of this complex, among others, by the much broader longitudinal band and a unique sexual dichromatism: the males A. sp. Wilhelmi have a purple chin patch.
Unfortunately A. sp.Wilhelmi is a bit shy and therefore needs time to get accustomed and to develop the full color splendor. But then it more than compensates the patience of the keeper. For the care of the fish the usual Apistogramma rules apply: germ-poor water, secondary plant materials (dead leaves, peat, alder cones), sandy soil, varied nutrition. With animals maintained in this way, no significant problems are to be expected.
At the moment we have nice offsprings of this dwarf cichlid in stock.
For our customers: the animals have code 630703 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply to wholesalers.
Text: Frank Schäfer, photos: Dieter Bork and Frank Schäfer
For a long time this beautiful dwarf cichlid from the basin of the Rio Nanay in Peru sailed under the name “cf. juruensis” or “sp. Black Chin”. Only the scientific description of the species in 2012 put an end to the confusion.
Great similarity exists to A. juruensis and A. cacatuoides. From both species living Apistogramma allpahuayo (the species name refers to the type locality, small streams flowing into the Quebrada Allpahuayo in the Reserva Nacional Allpahuayo Mishana) can be distinguished by the pitch black chin area, which is only rarely not well visible in very few mood situations.
These are very beautiful, easy-care dwarf cichlids. Males grow to about 7 cm, females to about 4 cm. One should offer them, like all Apistogramma species, preferably germ-poor water, sandy soil and structure-rich furnished aquariums. In nature a large part of the food of Apistogramma species consists of decaying plant parts (dead leaves etc.). The fish do not digest the plants (they cannot do that), but the numerous microorganisms living in the “compost”. In the aquarium you must therefore be careful not to feed too fat, the digestive system of these fish is set up for high fiber food. Wrong feeding (e.g. too much worm food) makes Apistogramma inevitably ill.
Apistogramma allpahuayo is a black water inhabitant and shows accordingly in soft, sour water the most beautiful colors. The temperature can be between 24 and 28°C.
For our customers: the animals have code 622723 on our stocklist. Please note that we supply exclusively to wholesalers.
The attractive Apistogramma sp. Oregon comes from the wider surroundings of Iquitos in Peru. Don’t ask us why this one is called “Oregon” – we don’t know that either. It belongs to the closer relationship of A. nijsseni, but differs clearly from this species by the bulky body structure, the large tail spot and a group of black spots on the lower half of the caudal peduncle.
This beautiful fish is quite hardy and adaptable, but it has been shown that for long-term care and breeding, very soft water with a pH of 5-6 is most favorable. In hard water with higher pH, the fish first become paler and then start to care. It is still unclear whether the soft acidic water is actually a physiological necessity or whether the animals – like so many fish from comparable habitats – just cannot tolerate the higher bacterial load in harder and more alkaline water.
According to the information available so far, A. sp. Oregon is known from only one forest pool. This does not necessarily mean that it does not exist elsewhere, but it has not been found so far. Therefore imports of the animals occur only in large time intervals, breeders should strive for them.
For our customers: the fish have code 625112 on our stocklist. Please note that we supply exclusively to wholesalers.
Literature
Römer, U. & D. P. Soares (2019): Beiträge zur Biologie von Apistogramma-Arten: Apistogramma sp. „Oregon“, ein selten gepflegter Zwergbuntbarsch aus dem peruanischen Amazonas-Tiefland in Loreto. DCG-Informationen 50 (8): 174-183
This wonderful dwarf cichlid belongs to the rarest and most wanted species of Apistogramma in the trade. Nevertheless the animals are not very difficult to keep at all. If the fish is kept under the correct conditions it belongs to the hardier species of the genus. There do exist elder reports on the fish that say the opposite, but we learned in the meantime that the limited number of specimens available at this time led to this erroneous point of view. We currently have medium sized wild collected and fully grown offspring of the “Red Belly” selection in stock. The pictures in this post show the “Red Belly”, pictures of wild collected ones can be found here: https://www.aquariumglaser.de/en/fish-archives/apistogramma-elizabethae-2/
The successful keeping of these beautiful fish requires the basic rules of Apistogramma keeping: clean, bacteria-poor water (this can be settled the most easy way in soft water with an pH between 5.5 and 6.5), diversified food and at least on some places in the tank fine sand on the bottom. Especially the sand is important and the meaning of it often underestimated. In fact the sand is more important than the water chemistry (hardness, pH). In the wild, these fish feed mainly on particles they find in the sand. To find them the fish takes a mouth full of sand, chews the sand and releases the sand through the gill openings. Food particles attach on special anatomical structures on the gill arches and can be swallowed subsequently. In case an Apistogramma can find no sand it comes in a situation comparably to humans that get no opportunity to clean their teeth. This may work for a while, but in most cases sooner or later one becomes sick of it.
For our customers: the wild collected fish have code 618723, the bred ones 618704 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
Suggestion of a common name: Elizabeth´s Dwarf Cichlid
Lexicon: Apistogramma: ancient Greek, means “with unreliable line”. It is not known whether the lateral line organ or the pattern is meant. elizabethae: dedication name for Elizabeth Cabot Cary Agassiz (1822-1902), the second wife of Louis Agassiz, who travelled with her husband on the famous Thayer expedition (1865-66) and wrote on the topic later. The name refers to the close relationship of A. elizabethae and A. agassizii.
The Cockatoo Dwarf Cichlid is one of the most popular members of the genus Apistogramma and found in petshops all over the World. Almost exclusively bred specimens of very colourful sports are traded. These do not appear in the wild.
However, “the” wild form of A. cacatuoides does not exist at all. Like so many other Apistogramma, this one is polychromatic in males. This means that even within one population males can look very different. The biological sense of the phenomenon is not understood at all. But the polychromatism is without any doubt the reason why in so many cases Apistogramma sports can be developed after only a few generations of breeding the fish.
Currently we have wild collected specimens of A. cacatuoides from Peru in our stock, where many males show a particularly high degree of yellow in coloration.
For our customers: the animals have code 617234 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply the wholesale trade.
There are many colour varieties of Apistigramma agassizii. The species – as it is currently understood – occurs in the complete Amazon river area in Colombia, Peru, and Brazil. The most wanted variety is probably the „Tefé“ variety. It is, however, not really proven that this variety really comes from the Rio Tefé, a right hand tributary of the Amazon in the Brazilian state of Amazonas. The trade name „Tefé“ was created at a time when a lot of money was payed for these fish and the people who collected them were not interested at all to share their knowledge about the collecting sites. The only thing that can be taken for granted in the Tefé-Agassizii ist that it is a blackwater form.
The Tefé-Agassizii is as variable in coloration as any other A. agassizii. A. agassizii is a polychromatic species. In the Tefé-Agassizii this polychromatism appears mainly in the individually changing content of orange or yellow in the fins and the neck. But all males of the Tefé-Agassizii have the typical zigzag-pattern on the belly. The females look almost like all females of A. agassizii, but can be recognized by the orange-red seam along the dorsal fin.
For our custimers: the animals have code 614833 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
Apistogramma bitaenata is one of the most beautiful species of the genus. And it is known for a very long time in the hobby already. Elder hobbyists will know the species maybe under the name of A. kleei, other, well known synonymys are A. klausewitzi and A. sweglesi. The species has a very wide distribution in Amazonia. It is known from Colombia, Peru, and Brazil. Most often wild collected fish come from Peru. A great number of local varieties is known.
We obtained now very beautiful wild collected A. bitaeniata from Brazil. These fish are not only very pretty but show a very unusual pattern in the caudal fin. This feature is rather known so far from the two close relatives of A. bitaeniata, namely A. paucisquamis and A. mendezi.
For our customers: the fish have code 615103 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
The Panda Dwarf Cichlid (Apistogramma nijsseni) was an absolute sensation when it was first introduced at the end of the 1970s. The breeding was successful right away, but it took several years before it was understood that the – often extreme – male surplus observed in the offspring came from too high water temperatures during breeding.
Since this problem has been solved, the panda dwarf cichlid is almost always available as offspring and only very seldom wild caught cichlids come to us. Our animals currently in the stock are German offspring and very lively and stable.
For our customers: the animals have code 625003 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply wholesalers.
The Bolivian dwarf cichlid Apistogramma rubrolineata is one of the true rarities in the trade. The species was only discovered in 2001 and scientifically described in 2002. The scientific name of the species refers to the seven brown-red longitudinal stripes that this species has. However, they are to be seen in full expression only in certain moods in dominant males. In the normal case, these fish look like on the photos. They are very pretty animals, which we can offer currently as German offspring in excellent quality.
For our customers: the animals have code 628053 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply wholesalers.
Text Frank Schäfer, photos Frank Schäfer & Dieter Bork
Before its scientific description this beautiful species of dwarf cichlid from Peru was known in the hobby as the „Sunset-Apistogramma“. And in fact the body coloration of a female during brood care reminds one in a sunset. The scientific name, atahualpa, refers to the last great ruler of the Inka empire: Atahualpa. He was captured by the Spain Pizarro in 1532 and in 1533 executed; this was the sunset of the Inka empire.
Currently we obtain beautiful wild collected specimens of A. atahualpa.
For our customers: the animals have code 614913 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
Sadly this beautiful dwarf cichlid is only occasionally available, but currently we were able to import once more beautiful, fully grown specimens. The fish display all the behaviour that makes the keeping of these fish so desirable. Like its close relative A. uaupesi, which differs from A. iniridae mainly due to the lyra-shaped caudal fin in the former species, the males are displaying their sailfin-like dorsal fins in harmless hierarchy fights – a wonderful look.
As in most Apistogramma species, the coloration is quite variable. There are specimens with much orange (mainly in the caudal fin), others look rather blueish. This does not represent different populations, but the different colour varieties live side by side.
This up to 7-8 cm long species (females always stay 2-3 cm smaller than the males) should be kept in soft, acidic and warm water (26-30°C). They feed readily on any type of frozen and live food. The females can become very aggressive against the males during broodcare, so it is best to keep the fish in well planted tanks that have a lot of hiding places.
For our customers: the fish has code 622554 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
Lexicon: Apistogramma: ancient Greek, means “with unreliable line”. It is not known whether the lateral line organ or the pattern is meant. iniridae: after the type locality, the Rio Inirida. uaupesi: after the type locality, the Rio Uaupes.
Two species of so-called Lyratail-Apistogramma come from Peru, which are very similar to each other: A. martini and A. pantalone. Both are among the most delicate and difficult Apistogramma species ever, but this is not a law of nature, but depends on circumstances in nature that have not yet been understood. At the beginning of the discovery of these species about 10 years ago, they were considered almost impossible to keep. At present, however, we are receiving imports that do not cause more difficulties than, for example, A. agassizii.
We have just received a very nice import of A. pantalone. The females resemble in their colouring the Panda dwarf cichlids (A. nijsseni and Co.), from which they can be distinguished however very easily by the tail fins. The females of A. pantalone have above and below prelongations in the tail fin (the other types of the group have round tail fins).
For our customers: the animals have code 626243 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply wholesalers.
We have received from a German breeder wonderful, fully grown Apistogramma borellii in two selections, “Opal” with red pattern on the head and “Reitzigi” with bright yellow head. With both forms, the males have dorsal fins of almost body height – fantastic animals! All photos of this post show animals of the “Opal”-form.
Nobody knows exactly what Apistogramma taeniata is, because the species was described in 1862 after a specimen, which is today in a very bad condition and the verbal description is more than scarce. At the time of the description, the genus Apistogramma did not yet exist, no one had any idea of its variety of forms. After all, the fish that we can currently offer are very similar to those that the Apistogramma specialists regard as A. taeniata.
For our customers: the animals have code 629502 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply wholesalers.
This dwarf cichlid was scientifically described in 1980, long before it was recognized how enormously species-rich the genus Apistogramma is. The exact determination of this species is correspondingly tricky. It is essentially based on the pronounced zebra crossing, which the animals show above all when they are worried. The species is little known in the hobby because it is only very rarely available. We have now received Apistogramma from Brazil which we assign to the species A. regani. This fish is also named A. sp. “Gelbwangen” (= “yellow cheek”) in literature.
The fish have a pronounced colour change ability. A characteristic which only becomes apparent at second glance, but which seems to be very characteristic at least for the variant we have just imported, is the red spot on the tail root of the animals.
The care of Apistogramma regani is typical for Amazonian dwarf cichlids, our specimens have so far proved to be very robust and healthy animals.
For our customers: the animals have code 628103 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply wholesalers.
Apistogramma uaupesi is certainly one of the most beautiful dwarf cichlids. Adult males can be very variable colored, therefore A. uaupesi got several German popular names, like “Rotkeil-Apistogramma” or “Blutkehl-Apistogramma” (= Red Wedge and Blood Throat). In nature, however, all color variants occur together, so it is not a matter of locality forms, but of an intraspecific polychromatism.
We could just import beautiful wild catches from Brazil.
For our customers: the fish have code 630423 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
Apistogramma mendezi belongs without any doubt to the most attractive members of the genus, but the animals we currently obtained from around Santa Isabel are even more attractive than usual. Of course the males of that population are as polychromatic as all Apistogramma males are, which means that hardly two males are looking identical, but most animals show a high degree of orange colours in fins and body and also most males have bloodred gill membranes.
For our customers: the fish have code 624784 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
In case this dwarf cichlid would not exist it would be necessary to invent it for the aquarium hobby. Apistogramma trifasciata is an ideal aquarium inhabitant. The species stays small – males around 5 cm, females around 4 cm. It is completely undemanding regarding water chemistry – keeping and breeding is possible even in medium hard and slighlty alcalic water – and energy-saving: as the fish inhabits in nature subtropical regions it is often faced with water temperatures as low as 10°C, so an aquarium heater is needed only for breeding. Besides all these advantages it is a beautiful fish and has an interesting behaviour.
Currently we can offer that beautiful fish as European bred ones.
For our customers: the fish have code 629983 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
Since its scientific description in 1980 this dwarf cichlid is subject of an ongoing debate among keepers and breeders of Apistogramma. Some think that A. gephyra is a mere variety of A. agassizii, others defend its status quo as a separate species. Most likely both parties are right. There can be no doubt that A. gephyra and A. agassizii are very closely related forms that parted from a common ancestor only quite recently. If they already represent different species or still the same is finally a question of personal taste.
Here in the wholesale trade we use a quite simple coloration-feature to tell both species apart, because this feature has proofed to be very reliable: only A. gephyra has a red seam along the dorsal fin edge. Mid-january we obained a shipment of young, about 1,5 cm long Apistogramma from Brazil. They showed a peculiar feature that we had observed so far (at least knowingly) only in one species from the Rio Negro, namely Apistogramma elizabethae: under stress the longitudinal stripe vanishes and a double-spot becomes visible in the first third of the body. In all other known species from the Rio Negro there is only one spot or a totally different pattern.
However, our new imports did not really look like A. elizabethae. So we decided to wait a bit. In mid-february, the largest males showed their mating colours. They are in fact Apistogramma gephyra!
For our customers: the fish have code 629502 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade. As they fish are still quite small we cannot exclude the possibility that other species of Apistogramma are mixed in as bycatch.
We received from Peru for the very first time this new, interesting and beautiful species of Apistogramma; sadly no further information on the origin is available. As the new fish cannot be applied for sure to an already described species, we simply adopted the name the exporter gave to the fish.
Marandu belongs to the closer relationship of Apistogramma moae. A. moae is a member of the A. eunotus complex that comprises several similar species, among them A. eunotus and A. cruzi. Very obvious in A. sp. Marandu are the very conspicious horizontal stripes along the belly and the blueish shining bands that accompany the primary stripe; the latter is shown as a series of single spots most of the time.
Apistogramma sp. Marandu is for sure a very interesting and beautiful novelty and we are proud and happy that we could manage its first importation now.
For our customers: the fish have code 630833 on or stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
Before its scientific description this beautiful species of dwarf cichlid was known in the hobby as the „Sunset-Apistogramma“. And in fact the body coloration of a female during brood care reminds one in a sunset. The scientific name, atahualpa, refers to the last great ruler of the Inka empire: Atahualpa. He was captured by the Spain Pizarro in 1532 and in 1533 executed; this was the sunset of the Inka empire.
Currently we obtain beautiful wild collected specimens of A. atahualpa.
For our customers: the animals have code 614913 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
Recently we received beautiful wild collected specimens of A. borellii from Paraguay. This species is an ideal aquarium fish. In contrast to many other species of the genus A. borellii is completely undemanding regarding water chemistry. Even in medium hard, slightly alcalic water the species thrives well and even breeds. The behaviour of A. borelli is similar to most other Apistogrammas: it is a polygamous species (that means each male breeds with several females), a cavebrooder, and the female has to do the most work in respect of taking care for the fry. However, A. borellii is among all the different types of Apistogramma the one that fits best to human ideals: it is even possible to keep it in pairs and every now and then even males take care for the brood. It is recommended to keep the fish in unheated aquaria during some weeks of the year. This will lead to a longer life in A. borellii and healthier fish.
During the current photosession we observed by chance that the neck-pattern of the fish formes so-called „eyespots“. These eyespots make the fish look by far bigger for possible predators. To the best of our knowledge this phenomenon has not been been mentioned for any Apistogramma species so far!
For our customers: the fish have code 615703 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
Lexicon: Apistogramma: ancient Greek, means “with unreliable line”. It is not known wether the lateral line organ or the pattern is meant. borellii: dedication name.
Common name: Umbrella cichlid, Yellow dwarf cichlid
On wednesday we received wild collected Apistogramma elizabethae. Anytime we get such rarities we take an even closer look than anyway on the fishes wether they really belong to the ordered species and if bycatches are among them. Apistogramma elizabethae can be told apart from other, similar species by an unique feature: alarmed fish loose much of their coloration and show two horizontically arranged oval spots on the flanks. This double spot can be also seen under special light conditions in relaxed fish, but it is much less obvious then.
So we took our documentary photos and discovered a male that looked totally different from all Apistogramma-elizabethae males we have ever seen before: it had broad vertical bars on the belly! We selected the fish and two others to take a closer look in the phototank. But here the male didn´t show that coloration anymore. Instead it came very quickly in mood for sexual activities and delivered a fabulous combat with his likeness in a small pocket mirror. These fish are simply gorgeous!
For our customers: the animals have code 618712 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
Apistogramma eunotus is among the species of Apistogramma with the deepest body of all. The species can be told apart from other, similar species, best by the large blueish spot on the opercle.
We obtained recently very different specimens of A. eunotus from the Rio Tapiche in Peru. They differ in many respects from typical A. eunotus. The fully grown males have prolonged fin lappets in the dorsal fin (not prolonged in males of normal A. eunotus), a well marked pattern in the caudal fin (no pattern in the caudal fin in normal A. eunotus) and the caudal fin has in fully grown males a prolongation on the upper and the lower edge (no prolongation at all or only a slight prolongation on the upper edge of that fin in normal A. eunotus).
Are these difference enough to establish a new species? This is not our decision. There have been some descriptions of new species of Apistogramma recently, but none of them seems to be identical with our new importations. It is very interesting that the newly imported Apistogramma eunotus „Rio Tapiche“ seems to represent a link beween the normal A. eunotus found in Peru and the Apistogramma species of the A.-macmasteri-complex found in the Orinoco drainage.
For our customers: the fish have code 618904 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
We received very nice German bred specimens of that dwarf cichlid. The specimens are descendants of the yellow-headed population that has been initially collected by the well known dwarf cichlid specialist and ichthyologist Dr. Wolfgang Steack in the Rio San Martin (Rio Guapore basin). He portrayed that population in detail in the DCG Sonderheft 2008 (March, 2008). Our breeder told us that this variety proofes to polychromatic. Among the offspring every now and than also more or less blue-headed specimens appear.
For our customers: the fish have code 630152 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.
The identity of this dwarf cichlid – it belongs to the absolute top-rarities – is under discussion. It is a fact hat it has been collected for the first time in 1995 by Uwe Werner and company near Mitu, Colombia. The city of Mitu is placed at the banks of the Rio Vaupes. Uwe was able to bring some live specimens with him, but sadly they did not breed successfully. These fish were introduced in the hobby literature under the name of A. personata. Uwe Römer in his book „Cichliden Atlas“ identifies these fish as Apistogramma brevis. However, both species – A. brevis and A. personata – are only very poorly studied, so currently it is not possible to decide which opinion is the right one. We simply named them Apistogramma personata Mitu because they are better known in the hobby under that name.
In respect of coloration this species is not a burner, but very interesting. The ability to change the colours is enormous – all pictures show the very same three specimens, one male and two females. A very interesting fact is that the male shows eyespots on the opercles when it is very excited; in cool moods these eyespots are hardly visible.
For our customers: the fish have code 626484 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade. Available in small numbers only!
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
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