New Geophagus Species - Now With Pics

[Wills]

Hi been trying to work this out for a while. On the practical fishkeeping website its been announced that 2 new Geophagus species have been described from the Rio Tocantis drainage. One is a new species with many differences to the species that are in the hobby now thats Geophagus Sveni.

However the other species which has been described as Geophagus Neambi is said to have been already seen possibly in the hobby as an Albios variant from the Rio Tocantis. So here is where it gets interesting for me I have in my tank 4 Geophagus sold to me as "F1 Geophagus sp. Tocantis a type of Albios mate" as the guy put it. Now as they have grown I have gotten 2 significantly bigger than the others so far both a little over 2 inches now one is still tiny but the other is inbetween. But as they got bigger their tails and markings became more pronounced and their tails are just spots so they have the right type of tail for Neambi and their stress bars of end before the gill plate which is right.

So wondering if this is the new species, I got them from Fish Inc in Sheffield who told me they had them from a private breeding from wild fish. So I know they are involved in the Sheffield fish clubs and was wondering if anyone on here knew any of the guys that work there?

Ill post pics in a bit as my camera is dead (and my glass needs cleaning ) but if anyone can find any pics of these or anyone who is in a similar situation as me as far as wondering if I have them or not please let me know

Wills

 

[minxfishy]

Are you sure its spelt albios or is it abalios? Just asking cause from what I can gather, 3 of mine are abalios, although thats not definitive.

 

[Wills]

Your right Minxy my spelling lol sorry Ive always just called them Albios think its me being dim....

 

[Wills]

Just got some pics after rescape posting more pics of my fish later on as well

Not all of the same fish and a few group shots, at the moment they are in a Roma 240 with my other fish but Im on the look out for a bigger price just needs to be the right price, size and look decent enough to please the mrs lol

If anyone knows please tell me

Wills

 

[minxfishy]

Well they dont look like my Abalios, which have a medium size spot, those dont appear to have a spot, although it maybe the camera flash dulling it out, they do have similar tail markings, but more spotty than dashes that mine have, but mine changed from spotty to dashes as they grew. To be honest, getting a definitive ID on geophagus species can be difficult, some go on spot size, others on dorsal spikes, colouring etc, so Im no help at all

However, here is a tail shot of one of mine:

And a shot of two of them:

One from when they were smaller, they are now approx 6-7"

 

[Wills]

Thanks Minxy I think Im going to have to wait till the are bigger to get possitive IDs on them I think they are an altifrons variant but just curious as to if they are one of the new species as they are F1 from the Rio Tocantis - The new fish have prominant red in the tail and spots in the tails which mine have they dont have any baring at all and also the largest fish has the right number of stress bars so based on catch location, stress bars and tail markings I think yes they are Geophagus Neambi but I dont want to say 100% yet....

How long did yours take to get that big? I have one growing quite well that is the alpha male then a beta male who is a bit smaller a female who is tiny and still quite undeveloped yet is the boss of the four and an outcast male which is a bit of an issue at the moment and thinking of trying to rehome him to be fair to him because he isnt doing well in the current situation as he really is at the bottom of the group - though I might try and find a female if Fish Inc still have some..... hmmmm got a long drive back from scotland next weekend so might take a detour past Sheffield on the way home...... wow that statement really shows off my geopgraphy skills hahahaha.

Wills

 

[minxfishy]

I picked these up around 3.5", 5 -6 months ago now I think, so they have grown well, I had one which was more dominant/aggressive immediatley and it turns out he isnt the same species, no spot at all and completely different spotting in the tail, no blue markings to the caudal fins like these 3 do, no idea what species he is either. Ive now removed him from the group, mine are all pretty much the same size wise, I believe of the 3 I have one female who is the definatley the boss, the 2 males are kept out of her patch and she regularly digs pits but doesnt seem interested in breeding with either of the males. Its only become clear in the last 2 months that the other was different as they dont come into full colour IME until 6"(ish).