My new Geophagus Surinamensis

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abarilot said:
Easy, unless you pay a lot of money they are not G. surinamensis. True Surinamensis are seldomly imported and when they are they fetch a high price. I agree with G. altifrons
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Well then, looks like this guy will be getting a little bigger than I expected.
Awesome.

He's colored up a lot now that he's settled it, I'll see if I can get another video!

By the way, is there any physical difference between the two? And what is the common name for G. Altifrons?

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No common name really, we just refer to them as altifrons.

As for the differences, it's mostly a combination of the size of the midlatteral spot, facial pattern and the tail pattern.
 
darth pike said:
No common name really, we just refer to them as altifrons.

As for the differences, it's mostly a combination of the size of the midlatteral spot, facial pattern and the tail pattern.
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Good to know, thanks! Are these difference visible when they're young, or at what age can you start to differentiate between the two?
Not doubting your guy's judgement on this, I'm just curious :)

Also, my Oscar is picking on him a little bit. Not terribly, but somewhat. The Geo still spends all his time cruising around picking at the sand, he just gets chased every little while. What can I do to reduce the aggression?


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Geophagus are usually identified using a combination of body and fin markings: lateral bar quantity and pattern, infraorbital stripe (or lack thereof), pre-opercular mark, mid-lateral spot (on the side of the body), and patterns in the caudal fin. Dean Hougen drew up some pictorial guides to go with an article he wrote about Geophagus identification. These do not include several of the newly named species, but you can see altifrons and surinamensis. The big difference with juveniles comes down to the size of the mid-lateral spot. On altifrons it's very small, and as the fish grow to adulthood it it ends up only covering a couple of scales. Sometimes it disappears completely. As you can see in the illustrations, surinamensis will supposedly have a spotted caudal fin, while the altifrons is a mix of spots and stripes. Dean warns not to base juvenile ID off of this feature because the tail pattern can change as the fish matures.

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It's a great looking Altifron! My avatar is of my altifron, just so you have a feel for what coloring you will be seeing out of him. She is one of the prettiest Geo's I have. Alot of geos sold in pet stores come with the label "geophagus surinamensis" and they usually arn't. The name "surinamensis" is a myth in the hobby, everything gets called a suri but none ever turn out to be a suri. Your alt is beautiful none the less. Be careful with having the oscar housed with him, it could kill him. They tend to be mean and territorial where the geo's are considered "peaceful" and typically do not start fights. Good luck! keep us updated :)
 
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