Results for “sp.”

This species differs from all other described members of the genus by the presence of dark blotches at the dorsal and ventral base of the pectoral fins. Three very similar-looking fishes have been assigned the codes A106, A107 and A108 under the DATZ system and are also known in the aquarium hobby as A. sp. 'rotpunkt' (this form has been in the hobby for decades with its precise origin unclear), A. sp. 'rotpunkt Orteguazas' (the paratype form of A. alacrina) and A. sp. 'rotpunkt Guayas', respectively. It remains to be seen whether they're conspecific with A. alacrina or not since they exhibit some differences in colour pattern and morphology.

This species has been assigned the code A174 under the DATZ system, and is also known by the trade names A. sp. 'Maulbrüter/mouthbrooder', A. sp. 'Glaser' (these referring to the 'red' colour form) and A. sp. 'Hauswell' (referring to the 'white' colour form). It can be told apart from other members of the genus most eas...

This species is assigned the code A138 under the DATZ system, with the Venezuelan variant referred to as A139 for easy reference. The genus Apistogramma is among the most speciose of South American cichlid genera with around 70 species valid at present but many more awaiting description. In addition many species exist in two or more geographical colour forms which may or may not turn out to be distinct in the future. Hobbyists tend to label these with collection dat...

B. chloropharynx is included in the Betta waseri group/complex of closely-related species within the genus, an assemblage which also includes a handful of potentially new species such as B. sp. 'Medas' on an unofficial basis. The easiest way to distinguish these is by examining the throat markings which vary according to species. In this case the lighter of these form a shape that roughly resembles a horizontal figure of ei...

This species is included in the Betta waseri group/complex of closely-related species within the genus, an assemblage which also includes a handful of unidentified fishes such as B. sp. 'Medas' on an unofficial basis. Group members share the following combination of characters: base body colouration clay yellow; opercle scales iridescent gold in mature males of all species except ...

Members of the genus Callochromis feed in a similar way to the South American "eartheaters" such as Geophagus species. They extract invertebrates and other items hidden in the substrate by taking in mouthfulls of sand and sifting it through the gills. The common term "sand sifters" is applied to these and other Tanganyikan species that inhabit a similar ecological niche, such as Enantiopus and Xenotilapia spp. Several geographical colour forms of this species exist. These ...

The genus Exodon is currently monotypic, with this single species having uniquely designed teeth. These allow it to rip the scales from other species. It's an ideal choice for those wishing to keep a large shoal of a predatory species without possessing the massive amount of tank space needed for a shoal of piranha or similar. A tank full of these makes for a very colourful and active display....

For many years G. affinis was thought to be the same species as the Eastern Mosquitofish, G. holbrooki, but has since been given distinct species status. They can be distinguished by several means. In G. holbrooki the leading ray of the males' gonopodium has a serrated edge, theusually has 7 rays and males also generally have a higher degree of dark spotting on the body than G. affinis males. Male G. affinis also lack the serrated leading ray of the gonopodium and this species usually has o...

It can be distinguished from congeners by the following combination of characters: gill slit angular; presence of subopercular groove, running continuous to origin of pectoral-fin; body black with numerous, small, evenly-spaced light brown spots; head dorsum black with numerous cream spots; pectoral and pelvic fins with cream spots; caudal-fin with iridescen...

This species is relatively rare in the hobby but sometimes available from specialist retailers or private breeders. Though described in 1991 it was first collected much earlier and misidentified by Gosse (1976) as G. surinamensis. It's one of just five Geophagus species not to be included in the nominal G. surinamensis 'group' of closely-related species within the genus along with G. gottwaldi, G. grammepareius, G. harreri an...

Juvenile specimens of this species are readily confused with those of other members of the 'G.' brasiliensis species group, but adults are easily-distinguished by their relatively smaller adult size and comparative lack of reflective blue scales on the body and head. The genus Geophagus was rediagnosed by Kullander (1986) who restricted it to include only those species with paired caudal extensions to the swi...

This species is rare in the hobby though it's name is often attached to shipments of other Geophagus species. It's a member of the nominal G. surinamensis 'group' of closely-related species within the genus and can be identified by a combination of characters including: possession of dark preopercular marking; no vertical bars on the flanks; relatively large, roughly oblong-shaped dark midlateral marking; caudal fin brownish with 3-5 light stripes on upper lobe and less well-defined stripes or mottled pattern of light spots with narrow dark interspaces on lower lobe.

This species is relatively rare in the hobby but sometimes available from specialist retailers or private breeders. Though described in 1992 it was first collected much earlier and has been in the hobby since the late 1970s, being known as 'Wangenstrich-Erdfresser' (cheek-stripe eartheater) in Germany. It's one of just five Geophagus species not to be included in the nominal G. surinamensis 'group' of closely-related species within the genus along with G. argyrostictus, G. gottwaldi, G. grammepareius and G. harreri.

This species has something of a confused taxonomic past. The standard colour of the fish is a rather dull silvery grey, with a little colour in the fins. However in certain areas in nature, the species is sensitive to a particular type of trematode parasite. This causes a reaction in the skin of the fish, resulting in a spectacular metallic gold colouration formed by deposits of guanin. When initially discovered, these golden fish were mistakenly described as a new species, Hemigrammus armstron...

A member of the spiny eel family, which range across tropical Asia and Africa, Mastacembelus erythrotaenia is one of the more common species available to the hobby, along with the peacock eel (Macrognathus siamensis)and the tyre-track eel (Mastacembelus favus). These species are all from Asia but there are some members of the family from Africa that are occasionally seen for sale. These majority of these species are from the Afromastacembelus genus, with the most common representative being the...

This species was originally sold as M. fuscus and then M. sp. "lepidophage. The name refers to the act of lepidophagy, which is the act of a fish eating the scales of another fish. In nature M. lepidiadaptes apparently lives an opportunistic lifestyle, feeding almost solely on the scales of other species, although interestingly not other mbuna. However in aquaria this behaviour has never been witnessed. Do not keep it with other Melanochromis species as they may hybridise....

This species was discovered in 2009 and as far as we know it has only been collected for the aquarium hobby on a single occasion to date, by Jeffrey Christian of Maju Aquarium, Frank Evers and Hans-Georg Evers. Prior to description it was referred to as O. sp. 'Kendari', O. sp. 'neon' or O. sp. 'Sulawesi'.

Now the only species in the genus Paratilapia, P. polleni is known as the "marakely" to many natives in Madagascar, which means "black fish". As with most Madagascan cichlid species, it is highly endangered in the wild due to habitat destruction and competition from introduced species and all attempts at captive breeding are to be encouraged. There is still some confusion as to the identity of the "true" P. polleni as there are both large and small-spotted forms...

Also known as the Speckled Bichir, this is an incredibly hardy, nocturnal species with very poor vision. P. retropinnis relies on its excellent sense of smell to locate food. This species along with others of its genus are some of the last surviving relatives of very ancient species. Fossils of earlier relatives have been found that date back to the Triassic Period, which occured during the early development of the dinosaurs more than 200 million years ago. They have several interesting adapt...

This species has an interesting method of feeding in nature. It will 'blow' sediment from the surface of rocks and feed on morsels that are uncovered. Protomelas sp. "steveni taiwan reef" is often sold as a subspecies of P. fenestratus but is actually thought not to be synonymous. P. taeniolatus is also very similar to fenestratus, and several colour forms of both these species exist. It is likely that some of these may be reclassified as distinct species in the future. None ...