Calling for Vieja experts to sex and ID my fish

[tiger15]

I have three Vieja species that need to ID and sex.

The first one is an 11" Vieja labeled as Synspillum I bought from a LFS 2 years ago. It has more red in the throat than in the head and no red at all in the tail and dorsal fin, which is less colorful than the syn I saw in the web. Can it be a female? It has a small hump but doesn't seem to get bigger, and the dorsal fin is round. But for a 2 year fish, I would assume if it were a female, it would attempt to lay eggs even without a mate.

The second fish is a 3 inch Vieja I just bought from a LFS which doesn't know its name. It has a lot of red in the head, tail and dorsal fin for a 3 inch fish. It looks like a V. fenestrata to me but I am not 100% sure. Can someone ID and sex this fish for me.

The third fish is a 2.5 inch Veija I bought from another LFS labeled as a V. fenestrata. It looks very different from the second fish as it has lighter and marbled color pattern. Can someone ID and sex this fish for me.

 

[virgil2090]

many vieja types have a variety of coloring due to locations. also genes,food,stress,etc.1st fish looks like syns i would say male.steeper head.if you look close,you should be able to see a breeding tube(F) or spike(M) visible eventually in adult fish.the 2 other photos i would say too small to sex yet.both seem to have fene markings,but vieja do hybridise easily.ask who supplies the store,if you trust the LFS

 

[tiger15]

many vieja types have a variety of coloring due to locations. also genes,food,stress,etc.1st fish looks like syns i would say male.steeper head.if you look close,you should be able to see a breeding tube(F) or spike(M) visible eventually in adult fish.the 2 other photos i would say too small to sex yet.both seem to have fene markings,but vieja do hybridise easily.ask who supplies the store,if you trust the LFS

I bought the second and third fish in the store from some someone who traded in his fish, so there is no way to know the source and the authenticity of the species name. In fact, the store clerk told me the second fish is a syn which I know it is wrong.

 

[duanes]

The 1st does look synspillum
The 2nd does look like a normal fenestratus, especially with the vertical bars
The 3rd, could be anything, there are many different fenestrata color morphs available.

 

[AConrad]

2nd is a guttulatus, 3rd is a fenestratus.

First two look like males, not sure on the 3rd. Venting is the only true way to tell

 

[duanes]

If you go to cichlidae.com click on content, then catalog, Central American genus Paratheraps. On the sidebar there are pics of fenestratus and guttalatus, your question about ID should be obvious.

 

[sje106]

Synspilum and then 2 Fenestratus.


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

 

[fug202]

The 1st does look synspillum
The 2nd does look like a normal fenestratus, especially with the vertical bars
The 3rd, could be anything, there are many different fenestrata color morphs available.

Ditto for the second fish - looks very much like a fenestratus. The third is washed out, but consistent with a number of possibilities (young Paratheraps are difficult to distinguish). The reddish color makes me think of hartwegi, but a fenestratus color morph is reasonable as well. For the first fish I'd go with synspilum.

 

[tiger15]

Here are update pics of the second and third fish 2 months later. Both fish have grown quite a bit and reaching about 6 inch. They get along with each other and tankmates very well but there is no pairing activities, so they must be two nice guy or gal. The light fish is about losing all his/her dark bloches. Is the verdict the dark fish is a normal fenestratus and the light fish a pink fenestratus still hold?