Geophagus ID: dicrozoster, brachybranchus, or something else?

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ryansmith83

ryansmith83

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May 2, 2008
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The pictures aren't that great. I'm uploading a video and will post that when it's finished processing on YouTube.

These fish came to me in January from John (snookn21) as G. winemilleri. As you can see, they're not winemilleri. They do have the black tear drop marking, but the fish have more than four vertical bars (I count 5 or 6). They also have a black throat.

I've read various sites about identifying Geos and most seem to suggest that they're dicrozoster, but then I came across another site that claims the same features belong to brachybranchus.

Any ideas? I got them around 2 - 3" and the biggest is probably 5" now.

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The flash washes them out, so hopefully the video will give you a better look at the iridescence and the markings. I'll post it shortly.
 
Here's the video:

[video=youtube;7cwkGvT8ZC4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cwkGvT8ZC4[/video]

I got distracted around 45 seconds and started filming my G. parnaibae. :ROFL:They are about to spawn again. It looks like they have HITH but it's actually scrapes and gashes from fighting and crashing into driftwood. Every time I come near the tank or turn the lights on, they and the Krobia violently bash into everything. The Krobia constantly have gashes on their head/face too. :(
 
I think I have a few from the same group. Nice to finally have a proper ID
 
Wiedner's book regarding Geophagus brachybranchus for those who do not have a copy below.

Characters of the species:
Apart from the short gill filaments, which are of little help to the aquarist, G. brachybranchus posseses distinct characters which permit it to be differentiated from the other members of the genus. Specimens of 7cm TL upwards have a dark preopercular stripe which is always present in adults. The stripe pattern on the flanks is an additional character. The first stripe is above the eye. The second begins at the dorsal insertion and ends at a not always visible, incomplete, lateral band that starts behind the eye and ends at the level of the lateral spot. The third like wise begins beneath the spinous dorsal, and again ends at the level of the lateral band, sometimes ending in a small, isolated, not always visible lateral spot. The 4th stripe is not always completely apparent snf ends in the large roundish lateral spot. In aggressivly-minden specimens the lateral spot becomes pale. Further back, still beneath the spinous dorsal and at the base of the fin, there is a smaller, slightly rounded, lateral spot. The 6th stripe begins below the first soft dorsal rays, runs vertically down, and ends 1-2 scales beneath the lower lateral lines. The 7th stripe lies at the end of the dorsal and likewise ends 1-2 scales beneath the lower lateral line. The 8th and last stripe lies on the caudal peduncle. Between the second and third stripe the upper lateral line kinks slightly upward. There is no appreciable difference in body shape between G. brachybranchus and the more familiar species G altifrons and G. surinamensis.

Holy crap my neck hurts typing that out from the book lol.. I should transcribe his book and sticky it so we can all use it for all species.
 
Though it doesn't really help with the ID, I noticed that the first couple of dorsal spine are black while the rest are the normal fleshy color. I was hoping it could be a distinguishing characteristic but from my search of pics on CRC and google (yes I know not the best option) both proximus and winemilleri have these black dorsal spines, which are two species that brachybranchus could be confused with. So now I'm just curious, are the first couple of spines always black or can they control this?
 
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