Apistogramma trifasciata (EIGENMANN & KENNEDY, 1903)

Three-striped Apisto, A204

SynonymsTop ↑

Biotodoma trifasciatus Eigenmann & Kennedy, 1903; Heterogramma trifasciatum maciliense Haseman, 1911; Apistogramma trifasciatum haraldschultzi Meinken, 1960

Etymology

Apistogramma: from the Greek apisto, meaning ‘meaning uncertain, inconstant, unstable, faithless’, and gramme, meaning ‘line’, in reference to the variably-developed lateral line in member species.

Classification

Order: Perciformes Family: Cichlidae

Distribution

Type locality is ‘Arroyo Chagalalina’ in Paraguay but this species has a relatively wide distribution extending southwards from the rio Guaporé drainage in the southern Amazon basin though the connected rio Paraguay watershed in Brazil and Paraguay and on as far as the middle Paraná (of which the Paraguay is a major tributary) basin in Argentina.

Habitat

Sluggish creeks, tributaries and smaller rivers, especially in areas where leaf litter collects.

Maximum Standard Length

Male: 5.5 cm Female: 4 cm

Aquarium SizeTop ↑

Base dimensions of 45 ∗ 30 cm or equivalent are acceptable for a single pair with a group requiring larger quarters.

Maintenance

Provided adequate cover and structure is available this species is unfussy with regards to décor with ceramic flowerpots, lengths of plastic piping and other artificial materials all useful additions.

A more natural-looking arrangement might consist of a soft, sandy substrate with wood roots and branches placed such a way that plenty of shady spots and caves are formed.

The addition of dried leaf litter provides additional cover and spawning sites, and brings with it the growth of beneficial microbe colonies as decomposition occurs.

These can provide a valuable secondary food source for fry, while the tannins and other chemicals released by the decaying leaves aid in simulation of natural conditions. Alder cones may also be used for the latter purpose.

Fairly dim lighting is recommended and aquatic plant species that can survive under such conditions such as Microsorum, Taxiphyllum or Cryptocoryne spp. may be added, while floating vegetation, especially Ceratopteris spp., is also useful.

There is no need to use peat, the collection of which is both unsustainable and environmentally-destructive.

Filtration need not be too strong, with an air-powered sponge filter or similar adequate.

It goes without saying that these are fishes are sensitive to fluctuating organic wastes and should never be introduced to biologically-immature aquaria.

This species also requires require acidic conditions with negligible carbonate hardness and low general hardness so a reverse osmosis unit or other method of obtaining soft water may need to be employed, and this can be further acidified using phosphoric acid or similar if necessary.

That said it is less fussy than some congeners and can withstand slightly soft, neutral water, with aquarium-bred specimens more adaptable still.

Water Conditions

Temperature: 20 – 25 °C

pH: 5.0 – 7.0

Hardness: 18 – 179 ppm

Diet

Apistogramma spp. are chiefly carnivorous and feed mostly on benthic invertebrates in nature.

In the aquarium live and frozen foods such as Artemia, Daphnia, Moina and chironomid larvae (bloodworm) should be offered regularly although most species will also learn to accept dried alternatives with pelleted products generally preferred to flake.

Behaviour and CompatibilityTop ↑

Captive-raised fish are the recommended choice for the community aquarium.

Wild examples are best maintained alone or with small ‘dither’ fishes such as Nannostomus spp., and ideally should not be mixed with other Apistogramma.

Sexual Dimorphism

Males are larger, more colourful and develop more extended fins than females.

Reproduction

Substrate spawner which normally lays its eggs in crevices or cavities among the décor.

Sexually-mature males establish territories and react aggressively to other males in the vicinity, though the presence of several females is normally tolerated.

Post-spawning the male usually returns to protecting his larger territory and courting other females leaving the female to guard and tend the eggs and fry.

Depending on temperature the eggs hatch in 36-72 hours with the fry free-swimming after a further few days.

NotesTop ↑

This species is assigned the ‘A’ number A204 under the DATZ system with possibly conspecific, related forms coded A205 or A206 depending on collection locality and representing populations from Argentina and the rio Guaporé, respectively.

A206 from the rio Guaporé exists in both red and blue colour forms and these apparently occur together in nature.

Following Römer (2006) it can be told apart from congeners  the following combination of characters: caudal-fin rounded; lateral body stripe about one scale wide and extending onto base of caudal-fin; a narrow dark stripe extending posteriorly from behind eye to the posterior edge of the operculum; an additional third stripe extending posteriorly from pectoral-fin insertion to the anterior anal-fin insertion; no dark spot at caudal-fin base; dorsal-fin with pointed, normally highly-extended membranes on the first 4-6 hard rays; body colour ranging from emerald green to steel blue with the head yellow and dorsal-fin partially red.

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 data if available in order to avoid mixing them and the potential of hybridisation.

Member species have also been organised into a series of species lineages, complexes and groups by authors in order to better separate them.

Such lists have been augmented by fish that have appeared in the aquarium trade and are in a state of near-constant flux.

The A. trifasciata sublineage, for example, is ordered within the larger A. trifasciata lineage and comprises the A. arua, A. brevis, A. cacatuoides, A. atahualpa, A. nijsseni and A. trifasciata species groups.

Apistogramma and a number of related genera are often included in the putative subfamily Geophaginae.

Kullander (1998) conducted a morphology-based phylogenetic study in which the neotropical Cichlidae was divided into six subfamilies of which the Geophaginae contained 16 genera divided among three ‘tribes’:

Acarichthyini – Acarichthys and Guianacara.
Crenicaratini – Biotoecus, Crenicara, Dicrossus and Mazarunia.
Geophagini – Geophagus, Mikrogeophagus, ‘Geophagus‘ brasiliensis group, ‘Geophagus‘ steindachneri group, Gymnogeophagus, Satanoperca, Biotodoma, Apistogramma, Apistogrammoides and Taeniacara.

Later molecular studies by Farias et al. (1999, 2000, 2001) resulted in the additions of Crenicichla and Teleocichla to the Geophaginae, a result supported by López-Fernández et al. (2005) who conducted the most detailed molecular analysis of the grouping to date including 16 of the 18 genera and 30 species.

However their conclusions regarding interrelationships between genera did vary somewhat from previous hypotheses and can be summarised by the following loosely-defined groups:

– a weakly-supported sister group relationship between Acarichthys and Guianacara.
– a well-supported “Satanoperca clade” comprising Satanoperca, Apistogramma, Apistogrammoides and Taeniacara.
– a “big clade” with Geophagus, Mikrogeophagus, ‘Geophagus‘ brasiliensis group, ‘Geophagus‘ steindachneri group, Gymnogeophagus, Biotodoma, Crenicara and Dicrossus.
– a “crenicarine clade” with Biotoecus and Crenicichla.

No representatives of Teleocichla or Mazarunia were included in the study but the former is well-established as sister to Crenicichla while the latter has grouped closely with Dicrossus and Crenicara in earlier works.

The other main conclusions of the paper are confirmation that Geophaginae is a monophyletic group exhibiting strong signs of having undergone rapid adaptive radiation.

References

1. Eigenmann, C. H. and C. H. Kennedy, 1903 - Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia v. 55: 497-537
   On a collection of fishes from Paraguay, with a synopsis of the American genera of cichlids.
2. Farias, I. P., G. Ortí, I. Sampaio, H. Schneider and A. Meyer, 1999 - Journal of Molecular Evolution 48(6): 703-711
   Mitochondrial DNA phylogeny of the family Cichlidae: monophyly and fast molecular evolution of the Neotropical assemblage.
3. Farias, I. P., G. Ortí, I. Sampaio, H. Schneider and A. Meyer, 2001 - Journal of Molecular Evolution 53(2): 89-103
   The cytochrome b gene as a phylogenetic marker: the limits of resolution for analyzing relationships among cichlid fishes.
4. Kullander, S. O., 1980 - Bonner Zoologische Monographien No. 14: 1-152
   A taxonomical study of the genus Apistogramma Regan, with a revision of Brazilian and Peruvian species (Teleostei: Percoidei: Cichlidae).
5. López-Fernández, H., R. L. Honeycutt, M. L. J. Stiassny and K. O. Winemiller, 2005 - Zoologica Scripta 34(6): 627-651
   Morphology, molecules, and character congruence in the phylogeny of South American geophagine cichlids (Perciformes, Labroidei).
6. Reis, R. E., S. O. Kullander and C. J. Ferraris, Jr. (eds), 2003 - EDIPUCRS, Porto Alegre: i-xi + 1-729
   Check list of the freshwater fishes of South and Central America. CLOFFSCA.
7. Römer, U., 2006 - Mergus Verlag GmbH: 1-1320
   Cichlid Atlas: v. 2
8. Wise, M., 2011 - World Wide Web electronic publication, http://apisto.sites.no: Accessed on 13.02.17
   Apistogramma Species List By Species-Groups/Complexes.