Geophagus brokopondo spawn

[peathenster]

I received a group of 6x G. brokopondo from Jeff earlier this year, and Ed gave me one of his later. They were pretty rough on each other in their own tank, so I grew them out in a bigger tank with some adult G. altifrons as peacemakers/police. Moved them to a 55g a couple of weeks ago and they have since spawned twice. Probably the same pair, although I'm not positive.

They are about 5-6". Not sure how big they will be eventually. I'm also not 100% positive that they are in fact G. brokopondo yet, because sometimes they show a little smudge on the gill plate. They were collected from Lake Brokopondo though.

Sorry about the dirty glass and the crappy pics. Eggs were eaten last time so I figured I should grab the camera and snap a few

Proud parents:

Mom:

Dad:

Tank: 55g on an eheim 2217, an AC110, two AC70s and an ugly sponge filter.

 

[peathenster]

Here is a pic I took of the dad a few days ago that shows the barring, the lateral spot and the smudge on the cheek a little better. Looks like he was getting into the mood

 

[JK47]

Awesome job Peter! They are beautiful.

 

[darth pike]

They are looking really good. Congrats on more eggs.

Of the 37 fish used to describe the species, it looks like 16cm SL was the largest ... so it's possible they are full grown already.

 

[peathenster]

Awesome job Peter! They are beautiful.

Thanks Justin

They are looking really good. Congrats on more eggs.

Of the 37 fish used to describe the species, it looks like 16cm SL was the largest ... so it's possible they are full grown already.

Thanks! I know I can count on you on the specifics Hope I can keep them in the 55 for a little bit longer.

 

[darth pike]

My only question about that though is the paratypes were caught in Lake Brokopondo, which is an artifical lake. Vin Kutty found it in a river as well, but his article didn't list sizes. Not sure if they get larger in the rivers or not. You could email and ask, I find he tends to be responsive (at least with my pike emails).

 

[peathenster]

Well, I'm not too worried about size yet. But I am really curious about what they are. The barring patterns are exactly the same as the G. brokopondo holotype pic in the Nijssen and Kullander book, but they have blackish throat and a smudge on the cheek not described in the book. G. brachy is the obvious alternative but Ed pointed out that they are distributed in western Suriname and not supposed to be found in the reservoir.

 

[Lab_Rat]

Very nice geos!

 

[darth pike]

Not sure if it's been decided that they are the same species, but the cf. bracy's in SAE show lines then spots in the tail fins, yours are showing just the spots.

Can't really see the black facial mark in any of your pics except the first female pic ... I think I see it there.

 

[peathenster]

Very nice geos!

Thanks

Can't really see the black facial mark in any of your pics except the first female pic ... I think I see it there.

Exactly....you can say it's there and you can say it isn't. A lot fainter than G. winemilleri or G. dicrozoster. Almost just like a break in the blue spangle but it's hard to ignore...