Geophagus Surinamensis
- Thread starter dxdx
- Start date
thanks!
I was hoping to get an ID from a geo expert, I don't trust Google on this since there's so much mislabeling on these.
Believe it or not, it looks almost identical to the picture of the Geophagus surinamensis on the Cichlid Room Companion site. But it also seems to line up with the description for G. abalios, which reads (in part):
Head without markings except for iridescent blue on upper lip, continued as a stripe which extends to the corner of the preopercle. Flanks with six dorso-ventrally directed yellowish-gray bars, fading or disappearing ventrally. The sixth bar extends to the base of the caudal fin. A black spot on the middle of the flanks coincides with bar 3. Dorsal and anal fins reddish with faint iridescent blue blue horizontal banding that turns brighter during breeding. Caudal brownish red with iridescent blue spots and bands in no clear pattern.
The only thing I can't really make out from the pictures are the bars. Also, I seem to remember someone saying that G. surinamensis had only dots/spots in the caudal fin and no stripes, yet Cichlid Room Companion shows fish with stripes. So without the full description of G. surinamensis in front of me, I don't know if that's accurate.
Maybe someone with Weidner's book will chime in.
Head without markings except for iridescent blue on upper lip, continued as a stripe which extends to the corner of the preopercle. Flanks with six dorso-ventrally directed yellowish-gray bars, fading or disappearing ventrally. The sixth bar extends to the base of the caudal fin. A black spot on the middle of the flanks coincides with bar 3. Dorsal and anal fins reddish with faint iridescent blue blue horizontal banding that turns brighter during breeding. Caudal brownish red with iridescent blue spots and bands in no clear pattern.
The only thing I can't really make out from the pictures are the bars. Also, I seem to remember someone saying that G. surinamensis had only dots/spots in the caudal fin and no stripes, yet Cichlid Room Companion shows fish with stripes. So without the full description of G. surinamensis in front of me, I don't know if that's accurate.
Maybe someone with Weidner's book will chime in.
Tail pattern doesn't match the picture in Weidner's book, it is indeed only spotting in the book not lines like the pics above. The tail pattern matches G. megasema to a T, but the midlateral spot is too small.
edit: After going through all the Geophagus pics in the book, the closest I can find is on page 148 which says "Also Venezuela is home to Geophagus which strongly resemble G. surinamensis."
edit: After going through all the Geophagus pics in the book, the closest I can find is on page 148 which says "Also Venezuela is home to Geophagus which strongly resemble G. surinamensis."
Doesn't G. megasema have a caudal pattern like Tapajos orangeheads, with horizontal blue stripes? If so, these fish have both stripes and spots if you look closely.
It says the stripes "join to form a very irregular reticulated pattern which sometimes even manifest as serpentine cross bars at the base of the fin, and only further back give way to straight to slanting longitudinal bands." The second half of the Tapajos "Orangeheads" look similar, but the area near the body does not.
These look like G. Rio branco or maybe G. Brachybranchus.
I have kept both and look very similar. They are definitely not abalios or altifrons.
Sent from my GT-N7105 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
I have kept both and look very similar. They are definitely not abalios or altifrons.
Sent from my GT-N7105 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
G. brachybranchus have a black throat and a black preopercular mark. The fish in the OP do not have preopercular marks or infraorbital stripes.
Thanks all for the input!
The caudal fins do start out with spots and change to lines, which is why I ruled out altifrons pretty early on. I wanted them to color up more before trying to get an ID.
So, it seems like the ID can differ depending on the source. If Weidner has spots only, that would seem to rule out Surinamensis.
I'm curious why Abalios would be ruled out. Some of the Google images do look similar.
Sounds like I might not be able to get an exact ID, if anybody wants to see more specific pics let me know and I'll take them.
The caudal fins do start out with spots and change to lines, which is why I ruled out altifrons pretty early on. I wanted them to color up more before trying to get an ID.
So, it seems like the ID can differ depending on the source. If Weidner has spots only, that would seem to rule out Surinamensis.
I'm curious why Abalios would be ruled out. Some of the Google images do look similar.
Sounds like I might not be able to get an exact ID, if anybody wants to see more specific pics let me know and I'll take them.