What type of Geophagus Altifrons is this one?
- Thread starter cmnielsen
- Start date
almost definately surinamensis...I think
I would agree, those are G.surinamensis. If there are two fish that are difficult if not impossible to differentiate G.surinamensis and G.altifrons are those two. According to the literiture, the main way to differentiate the two is by the locality of their capture. Supposedly, only specimes captured in Surinam or French Guiana can be classified as surinamensis, but very similar fish are present in Brazil as well. If they were captive bred, chances are they are surinamensis...or what passes for surinamensis in the trade. (G.altifrons, G.surinamensis, and G.proximus are essentially interchangable in the aquarium trade).
The characteristics for the surnimansis species include: absence of dark markings on the head, the always visible lateral spot (which may be quite small), irregular pattern on the caudal (as opposed to vertical or horizontal spot orientation, and the deep bodied shape. By definition, G.altifrons has all of these same characteristics except the presence of the lateral spot...at the same time, this is present on many altifrons specimens.
I hope this helps...and doesn't totally muddle things up.
I would agree, those are G.surinamensis. If there are two fish that are difficult if not impossible to differentiate G.surinamensis and G.altifrons are those two. According to the literiture, the main way to differentiate the two is by the locality of their capture. Supposedly, only specimes captured in Surinam or French Guiana can be classified as surinamensis, but very similar fish are present in Brazil as well. If they were captive bred, chances are they are surinamensis...or what passes for surinamensis in the trade. (G.altifrons, G.surinamensis, and G.proximus are essentially interchangable in the aquarium trade).
The characteristics for the surnimansis species include: absence of dark markings on the head, the always visible lateral spot (which may be quite small), irregular pattern on the caudal (as opposed to vertical or horizontal spot orientation, and the deep bodied shape. By definition, G.altifrons has all of these same characteristics except the presence of the lateral spot...at the same time, this is present on many altifrons specimens.
I hope this helps...and doesn't totally muddle things up.
There is no clear cut difference as far as I can tell. The spot is supposed to be absent on the G.altifrons, but it is still present on many strains. Personally I'd guess that these two species will either be clearly differentiated or just pooled together when the Geophagus genus is finally revised.
You can judge for yourself. Here's some links.
Surinamensis: http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.cfm?ID=4781
http://www.phnet.fi/public/korjula/akvaario/geophagus_surinamensis.htm
http://www.cichlidae.com/gallery/Geophagus/surinamensis.html
Altifrons
http://cichlidae.netliberte.org/CICHLIDS/5_03_02/Geophagus_altifrons_curumu_jeune.jpg
http://www.cichlidae.com/gallery/Geophagus/altifrons.html
http://www.cichliddomain.com/Photo Album/pages/Geophagus Altifrons_jpg.htm
http://www.aquatarium.de/katalog/fische/geophagus_altifrons_tocantins.html
You can judge for yourself. Here's some links.
Surinamensis: http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.cfm?ID=4781
http://www.phnet.fi/public/korjula/akvaario/geophagus_surinamensis.htm
http://www.cichlidae.com/gallery/Geophagus/surinamensis.html
Altifrons
http://cichlidae.netliberte.org/CICHLIDS/5_03_02/Geophagus_altifrons_curumu_jeune.jpg
http://www.cichlidae.com/gallery/Geophagus/altifrons.html
http://www.cichliddomain.com/Photo Album/pages/Geophagus Altifrons_jpg.htm
http://www.aquatarium.de/katalog/fische/geophagus_altifrons_tocantins.html
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