Geo ID
- Thread starter ctarry
- Start date
Tbh I don't know also read here that Geo Surinamensis are extremely rare.
This may help
The lack of a facial/cheek marking, the striped tail, and the size of the midlateral spot would all suggest they’re probably G. abalios, a common Geo and one often sold as surinamensis.
Agree with Ryan, here is a chart with showing some surinanensus traits, not seen in the OP. (note the caudal spotting)
Abalios have a combination of horizontal stripes and spots as seen in your photos. But regardless of the tail stripe pattern, the chance of you having surinamensis is almost zero unless you bought from a source like Tangled Up in Cichlids or Below Water who imported them from the couple of locations they’re known to inhabit in Suriname.
A relevant question would be where it came from, about the only way to get true Geo surinamensis is provenance to an expert collector who traveled, not just to Suriname, but to the correct location in Suriname (or, possibly, a high end importer with unique local connections), and even at that it's possible to get another, similar geo. If it came from a pet shop there's virtually no chance, unless it's a high end shop and their fish came from such a collector.
There are two or three reasons for so many fish misidentified as surinamensis. Before 40 or so years ago, most similar looking geos were believed to the same species, surinamensis, and it's since then that they've been identified and described as different species. To this day many sellers, distributors, breeders, etc. are either behind the times or confused and ignorant about geo species, that or lazy. And surinamensis are actually very similar to several other species and difficult to identify by appearance alone.
There are two or three reasons for so many fish misidentified as surinamensis. Before 40 or so years ago, most similar looking geos were believed to the same species, surinamensis, and it's since then that they've been identified and described as different species. To this day many sellers, distributors, breeders, etc. are either behind the times or confused and ignorant about geo species, that or lazy. And surinamensis are actually very similar to several other species and difficult to identify by appearance alone.