Origin of my wild severums?

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T

TheBeardedFish

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jul 8, 2014
31
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Ohio
I recently picked up some wild severums from my lfs. They gave me no further information on the fish other than that they were wild. Upon doing alittle research I believe that they are the Heros severus mouthbrooder. Where exactly do these fish occur in the wild and are there any type locality differences I can look for?
Thanks in advance.
I'll post some pictures of the fish later today.


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Pictures would help. Mouthbrooding sevs are pretty easily distinguished from efasciatus types just by looking at them.
 
I know for certain that they are heros severus I was just hoping to find out where exactly this species occurs in the wild. I also wanted to see if I can narrow down where exactly the collection point of my particular severum was. As in, are there any type locality differences within the species?



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IMO it's hard to tell. There are Heros sp. Atabapo which are mouthbrooders from the Rio Atabapo, and they are most likely what you've got. I say that because a lot of other Atabapo fish have been available in the last couple of months including other vendors selling these particular severums.

According to Cichlid Room Companion there are mouthbrooders in Colombia, Venezuela, and Brazil. I have true Heros severus from Rio Orinoco and there are slight differences between those fish and my Atabapo pair. The severus tend to be a little more blocky or high-bodied in shape with smaller eyes, while the Atabapo fish are a bit more pointy in the face and have larger eyes. I believe Jeff Rapps has photos on his site of each type so you can compare them and see the differences. As young fish it's almost impossible to tell, though, and even the adult differences are subtle and not 100%.

The best thing to do is trace their origin back to the country they were exported from. If the LFS doesn't know, they should be able to find out from the wholesaler they came from.
 
I checked out Rapp's site and unfortunately he doesn't have pictures of both types of fish, but there was I think a German site which had a very extensive photo gallery of severums. I can't seem to find it anymore though…
The whole reason I want to sort this out is so I can give a somewhat definitive name to the fish if I decide to sell any fry.
 
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