Keys to identifying Apistogramma agassizii 'Tefe'

[theodore]

Hi.

I bought a pair of (supposedly) Ap. agassizii 'Tefe' recently but the male doesn't look like any of the pictures of I came across to date.

Can someone teach me how to ID one correctly?

Thanks.

[A couple of pictures of the male]

[illumnae]

very nice piece you have there! looks like an Ap. agassizii 'tefe' to me

[theodore]

Thanks... unfortunately, it doesn't look quite as good these couple of days because the fins are battered by the female.

And what exactly is this 'zig zag' pattern that is supposed to be distinct to agassizii 'tefe'? Can you elaborate a bit more on this?

Thanks again!

[genes]

Something like that in this picture. Look at the belly for the zig-zag patterns. Yours first picture seems to spot some faint patterns on the belly.

http://www.rva.ne.jp/apisto/ap_agasiji_bauana.htm

[illumnae]

on 2nd look, yours might actually be an alenquer instead of tefe...seems too yellow to be a classic tefe.

http://forum.apistogramma.com/showthread.php?t=3435 check out this link

[joopsg]

looks like agassizi "Flamingo", NKS brought in too.

[theodore]

Looks like I'll have to wait for them to grow up a little before I know if they are alenquer or tefe.

It's probably not a "Flamingo". The caudal coloration is different: It's [black + blue + purple + white/yellow mix] for "Flamingo" vs [black + white + purple + yellow/purple mix] for my "unknown".

[Pork Life]

Think it's a apisto agassizii white seam or something? I saw a similiar one to this in the list of apistos in the recent shipment list from apistoworldhk.

[theodore]

Latest pictures of my first pair. The zig-zag patterns on the male are more obvious now so it might indeed be an agassizzii 'Tefe'.

I'm a little concerned about the 'female' though. Can it be a sneaker male?

[joopsg]

Hi Theodore, your male is beautiful.
your female agassizi is so yellow and looks ready to spawn.
why do you suspect it as a sneaker?
is it because they are not spawning?
don't worry once they spawn they cannot stop, you should now worry where to put their fries.

[EvolutionZ]

very nice pair bro.. i got the aga tefe from the same place as you... but mine not much colour.. hopefully with the help of NLS and when they get bigger, they can be as nice as yours

[theodore]

I suspect it's a sneaker because:

1. It has been 3-4 weeks now and not a single spawn
2. I've yet to see black markings on the ventral
3. The caudal doesn't look round enough for a female
4. I saw black and white markings on the caudal when it flared (briefly) at the other pair I bought just a week ago

[illumnae]

1. not conclusive, just because they haven't bred doesn't mean that you don't have a pair...doesn't mean that just because you have a male and a female they have to breed
2. again not conclusive. the black markings on the ventral are only there long-term when they have bred and it's a part of the breeding dress of the female. other than that, the female doesn't always have the black markings...sometimes it's there, sometimes it's not. as your fish haven't bred, it's very possible for her have chosen not to display it when you were looking
3. looks round to me
4. some females of certain species do display patterns on the tail

hence, while you might have a sneaker, the reason you listed are not conclusive at all

[doppelbanddwarf]

I'm not sure if a sneaker male will be able to display such bright yellow colours.

[iwishweallcouldwin]

hey bro theodore, relax! you've gotten yourself a very very nice pair in my opinion! enjoy your fishes, take good care of them and they will definitely spawn for you in the future!

[theodore]

Well, this is my first pair of tefe after all

I used to keep bitaeniata (from Eco Culture) and some wild, unidentified agassizii (from Gan) but that was a lifetime ago. The females I had then always displayed classic traits such as lemon yellow colouration, black spot on body and thick black markings on the ventrals.

[theodore]

Any guess what the cute couple is doing under the leaves?

[doppelbanddwarf]

Spawning?

[iwishweallcouldwin]

haha that's a pretty cute picture. we'll be awaiting your good news. all the best!

[theodore]

This is their first spawn so I'm not expecting anything out of it.

Only regret is that I couldn't get a clean shot (or video) of the act. Of all places, the female had to choose the underside of ketapang leaves.

I've already moved the male to the next partition (with another female). His caudal got pretty battered by the time I got to him last night.

Now the only thing left is for me to leave the brooding female alone - I have a tendency to mess with my tank every couple of days.

Another picture of my male (before he got walloped):