Apistogramma eremnopyge

[leeruisheng]

Haha sounds dirty.

E-rim-no-fidge

[Quixotic]

Etymology of the name: The species is named with reference to the identifying mark of a dark blotch on the lower caudal peduncle. The name is a noun in apposition composed of the Greek eremnos meaning black, swarthy or dark, and pyge meaning rump or buttocks.

BTW, there is no right or wrong pronunciation, "pyge" is probabaly pronounced as pig.

[leeruisheng]

Here's the paper to help identify sex. http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2004f/zt00564.pdf

[jacian]

Now here are the photos of my Ap. eremnopyge, thanks to Wackytpt for helping to take the photos.

The male, more colour and finage development.


]

The 'female', as compared to the male, there isn't much development in terms of colour. However, does it look like a male by looking at the dosal?



Close-up look.

[illumnae]

i'm having problems with my Ap. eremnopyge female as well due to the dorsal showing some signs of being male-like after looking at the pictures posted by ruisheng and yourself though, I'm quite consoled as my female does resemble both of yours i guess this is one of the harder species to sex accurately?

[jacian]

If you compare the picture with the Biotope's female picture taken by Valice, see below, I will think mine is a sneaker male.
http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...02&postcount=1

[illumnae]

oops, and mine looks like yours! the difference seems to be between "sharp" dorsal rays and "blunt" or "flattened" dorsal rays

[leeruisheng]

Jacian when was the photo taken? Strange le. How come your male is still developing quite slowly. Mmm but i say it is a female.

Retrieved from the papers,

" In the females, anterior 6 dorsal spines with pointed lappets, posteriorly rounded, short; soft dorsal fin rounded, reaching little beyond caudal fin base."

Anterior 6 dorsal spines with pointed lappets in layman terms means front dorsal pointed? Then why is it then that soft dorsal fin is rounded? I'm not familiar with these terminology. Can anyone shed some light? Thanks.


Think other way is see if they spawn.

[jacian]

Photo taken last week. Mine is not as nice as yours. Maybe I am not as good in raising them.

[leeruisheng]

Don't think so was going to say that your male looks better. More red coverage and signs of orangish belly.

[Quixotic]

As in the scientific paper noted, the first few spines of the dorsal fin on the female can be pointed. So the gender is not easily differentiated just by looking at the dorsal fin.

The better indication may be the anal fin. In the male, anal fin is pointed with the 3rd ray longest and filamentously extended to near end of caudal fin. In the female, anal fin is rounded or subacuminate (accuminate: Tapering gradually to a sharp point), reaching little beyond caudal fin base.

Looking at all the A. eremnopyge pictures, the anal fins on the males are extending much more beyond the caudal fin base, while the females are distinctly shorter. The anal fin of the 'female' does fit the above key, so my educated guess would probably (never say never!) be a female.

My humble 2 cents...

[leeruisheng]

Yeah male will have extensions on the caudal but not for female.

[illumnae]

thanks for the tip Quixotic i was spending last night staring at my female after reading the paper trying to get hints from the front of the dorsal, the end of the dorsal, the anal fin and the ventral fins based on distinctions raised in the paper my tentative conclusion was that i had a female (based on the rounded anal fin like you pointed out) but i'm still not conclusive, especially as the confirmed male spends most of his time hiding, only coming out when the female is in his line of sight.

i'm a lousy photographer so i can't post photos like ruisheng and jacian can for comparison haha. hopefully mine will be less skittish soon so that the male can actually discover the mirror and the female will stay in front long enough for photos!

[Quixotic]

In the females, anterior 6 dorsal spines with pointed lappets, posteriorly rounded, short;...

You need to break up the sentence (at the semi colon), then you will see more sense.

The dorsal fin can contain spiny rays, or soft rays, or a combination of both. The dorsal fin of this fish is a combination of both.

With reference to the dorsal spines (not including soft rays), the front (anterior) 6 [1a] are with pointed lappets (not too sure about lappets but they are flaplike structure) while the back (posterior) ones are rounded and short [1b].

...soft dorsal fin rounded, reaching little beyond caudal fin base[/I]."

With reference to the soft rays [2], the fin is rounded, extending just a little beyond the base [3] of the caudal fin.



Just a rough illustration using the picture of the male as it is clearer (let me know if there are objections to using your picture)...
[1] - dorsal spine ray, [1a] anterior, [1b] posterior
[2] - dorsal soft ray
[3] - base of caudal fin

[leeruisheng]

Million thanks Quixotic, for the clear explanation.

I guessed lappets could be referring to the long dorsal. When they've matured, the dorsals will be long enough such that when they fold down, it overlaps over the body.

[jacian]

With reference to the soft rays [2], the fin is rounded, extending just a little beyond the base [3] of the caudal fin.

Thanks Quixotic for the clear explanation. Again, if I am to take Biotope female for example, it is very obvious for the rounded soft rays. However, for mine, I find that it is more towards the 'male' look.

[illumnae]

is it any indication of "female-ness" if the fish in question isn't particularly interested in flaring at the mirror? all the males i've had so far flare at the mirror very enthusiastically while this female/sneaker eremnopyge is rather disinterested...flares sometimes but usually ignores or just chills in front of the mirror without flaring

[illumnae]

this is the best i managed to do. lousy picture and not so good colouration. do i have a female? rounded back of dorsal and anal fins and rounded caudal *fingers crossed*

[Quixotic]

jacian, which is why I said "never say never" and not to use the dorsal fin as an absolute reliable mean to sex them. Oh well, based on the anal fin as the key but given that the angle of your photo is not easy to use, it is really just guesswork.

illumnae, the anal fin of your fish don't seem to extend much beyond the base of caudal fin, so again, I would make the educated guess that it is a female.

Any other second opinions are welcome! (genes? valice?)

(Disclaimer: Never say never! )

[leeruisheng]

Female with first few rays pointed.
http://www.cichlidae.info/gallery/picture.php?p=1795