I snapped a few pictures of my wild-caught pair for you. Keep in mind these are quick, crappy cell phone pictures. They're not as washed-out in person. Both fish have orange-red horizontal markings and the male has black freckles on the gills. He also has a nice blue iridescence mottled across his back and sides, which overlaps the bars and gives them a glittery appearance. It's very pretty in person. They have a much more subtle beauty than non-mouthbrooding severums, but they're still a lovely and interesting fish.
These came from Jeff Rapps a few years ago. They are Orinoco fish, and the Inirida is part of the Orinoco basin. When they came to me at 4 - 5" they were already spawning so I'm thinking their growth was a bit behind. Currently they are 9 - 10" and share a 150 with a bunch of other medium sized SA fish.
My Rio Atabapo pair, on the other hand, were a good 11" and pretty pushy. They are mouthbrooders as well, and look extremely similar. I can't say whether or not they're the same species, but I do notice differences in the two different populations. The Orinoco mouthbrooders tend to have a steeper forehead, giving them a boxier appearance, while my Atabapo fish were more pointed and torpedo shaped. The Atabapo showed a more dramatic red, a deeper brown base color, and didn't really have the same blue iridescence as the Orinoco male.
My Orinoco pair is fairly shy for large fish and I only ever see them chase each other, except on spawning occasions when they will chase off other fish. My Atabapo pair was a bit more pushy, and they weren't afraid to stand up to much more bullish fish like
Crenicichla lenticulata and
Hoplarchus psittacus. I don't do anything special for them. I keep the water between 80 - 82F, give them plenty of water changes (usually 90% weekly on the large tanks), and a good staple pellet. They are not picky about food or water parameters. I have a moderate hardness with a pH in the high 7s and both pairs have spawned and raised fry for me on countless occasions. I let this happen in the community tanks because they are mouth-brooders and do a fine job of guarding the fry until they're large enough for me to siphon out.
My one suggestion is to give them a bigger tank because I have seen them be a bit rough on each other if they don't have ample room to stretch their fins. They do fine with other
Heros, as well as all types of acaras and geos. I've had them with peaceful fish like
Cleithracara and
Mikrogeophagus altispinosus with no issues.
