Could Someone/anyone Id This Geophagus Species Please

[minxfishy]

I had this guy in a group of 4 Geophagus, 3 of which are Abalios, but this one is different, Ive had to remove him from the group as he is too aggressive with them and although he is ok on his own in another tank, I need to rehome him, preferably in a group of his own kind, but without knowing his particularly species, its hard to sell him.

 

[england]

Hi minx, is that not altifrons? beautiful

 

[minxfishy]

Yeah Ive looked at Altifrons (so many of those are classed as a different species too ) but the tail markings dont quite seem to fit, is also missing the blue colouration on the fins, although that could still come, but at 6" it should already be showing. Its the closest ID compared to others, its just which variation of Altifrons, finding good clear reliable pics to compare isnt easy

 

[england]

yeah difficult,there seems to be alot of different sp's with this fish////

 

[meguro]

geophagus brachybranchus

 

[minxfishy]

Hmm interesting, but this guy doesnt have a large enough spot to the body for that, thanks though.

 

[england]

Surinamensis


And yes this picture belongs to one of our members

 

[hamfist]

Not sure the lateral spot is quite large enough on Minxy's fish to be Surinamensis. From memory I seem to remember having read that it needs to cover at least 4 scales width and have relatively good definition to be surinamensis.

There is a lot of discussion on this subject over at MFK, and it would seem, like Severums, the hobby and fish capture from the wild has well outspripped the scientific community's ability to accurately classify all these species. No doubt there are also several geographical colour variants of the same species too.

Another very similar looking species to G.surinamensis and G.altifrons is G.abalios. That fish could possibly be abalios as much as altifrons.

I wish I understood more about how to tell the difference between them. I have not found a good, clear internet resource to help with that yet. If anyone knows of one I would be very pleased !

 

[minxfishy]

My other three are Abalios, its not a surinamensis, the spots are not long enough on the tail and the spot on the side is too small. That pic is markandhisfish'es Suri I believe.

MFK cant decide either Im thinking altifrons variant.

 

[star4]

awwww he is a little lonley odd one out, Mr Misfit. I have tried looking too, but they all look so similar. He may have to be homed alone by the look hun, by someone with more more aggresive fish.

 

[minxfishy]

He's not aggressive to other species, just his own kind, he's fine at the moment, gone in with the GT, they seem to be getting along merrily ....... for now!

 

[star4]

Those words ...for now

 

[hamfist]

My other three are Abalios, its not a surinamensis, the spots are not long enough on the tail and the spot on the side is too small. That pic is markandhisfish'es Suri I believe.

MFK cant decide either Im thinking altifrons variant.

He's a new discovery. Geophagus minxfishyus !!

 

[Glenbo1981]

You got another GT now Minxy? i'm sure you get a new one every few months lol!

Maybe the Geo is trying to breed, thats why its starting fights?

 

[peathenster]

Not sure what the confusion is, but it looks like a typical G. altifrons to me.

The tail pattern and body coloration vary depending on locality. Below are a few examples described by von Jens Gottwald.

For all practically purposes you can pretty much forget about the existence of G. surinamensis in the hobby. Most specimens referred to as G. surinamensis are G. abalios, including the one in post #7.

I've kept three variants so far. These pictures were taken with different WB, but if you believe me, the base color of these three variants appear to have more yellow, blue and red, respectively.

G. altifrons "Tapajos"

G. altifrons "Manuas" (Note - I'm not positive about the locality as Manuas is a port)

G. altifrons "Tocantins"