Will the 'Real' GT please stand, uh, up.

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Rapps is. Aequidens Rivulatus comes exclusively in the silver trim. They are smaller than the normal "saums" and lack the thick gold trim. They also come from a different locality, although it escapes me at the moment... if the old pfish archives still exist, there was a big discussion concerning this and I believe I compiled all the information into one post.
 
I went over this before in another thread. I guess I will go over it again.

Let's forget about common names for a minute and look at the name Aequidens rivulatus.
The valid species that this name belongs to would be the fish that was collected at the type locality. The type locality is where the original specimen was collected.

The Holotype (first specimen collected) of A.rivulatus was taken in western Ecuador in the Rio Esmeraldas. It's a smaller fish than the Goldsaum, but resembles it.

The Goldsaum is from the Guayas river in Ecuador South to the Tumbes river in Peru. It's a seperate and yet undescribed species.

The "real" rivulatus that Jeff Rapps is selling is a Peruvian fish and is not found in Ecuador.
I have personally collected this species in the Rio Canete in Peru. It is also an undescribed species.

There have been two other "terrors" described: A.aequinoctialis and A.azurifer are the two that I know of. It is up in the air if these names are valid, but Wayne Leibel thinks one of these names may belong to the Goldsaum.

This is a link to Alf Stalsberg's website. He problably has more knowledge than anyone else about these fish because he has collected all three types in the wild.

http://www.lem.net/alf/aeq.htm
 
So I have what looks like a gold saum according to that website. I can live with that. nice republic commando avatar... the geek just came oozin out of me on that comment.
 
probably not "Aequidens" rivulatus,but the one we in the hobby call "Aequidens" sp. Goldsaum.

So far this fish is not scientific described and will probably not be in the Genus Aequidens when it will be described. It's over twenty years since the fish appear on the market, so let's hope somebody will do something about it.
Okay, this is what we have. Will we have to wait another twenty years before someone decides what the Real Green Terror is?
Wait... so the "real' rivulatis is a Peruvian fish. "The Goldsaum is from the Guayas river in Ecuador south to the Tumbes river in Peru. It's a seperate and yet undescribed species."
The real one is from Peru. You have personally collected them and they are "Also an undesribed species."I went over this before in another thread. I guess I will go over it again.

Let's forget about common names for a minute and look at the name Aequidens rivulatus.
The valid species that this name belongs to would be the fish that was collected at the type locality. The type locality is where the original specimen was collected.

The Holotype (first specimen collected) of A.rivulatus was taken in western Ecuador in the Rio Esmeraldas. It's a smaller fish than the Goldsaum, but resembles it.

The Goldsaum is from the Guayas river in Ecuador South to the Tumbes river in Peru. It's a seperate and yet undescribed species.

The "real" rivulatus that Jeff Rapps is selling is a Peruvian fish and is not found in Ecuador.
I have personally collected this species in the Rio Canete in Peru. It is also an undescribed species.

There have been two other "terrors" described: A.aequinoctialis and A.azurifer are the two that I know of.

Does not sound like there is a 'true' GT but I still like mine. And yours. :)
 
And Nandus: Thank you for this information. The primary reason I'm here is to learn. No, actually I want to tell jokes but the secondary reason I am here is to learn. Thank you.
 
Hi all,
I said "real" in quotation marks because that's what Rapps calls it. It is actually another species.

A.rivulatus is from Western Ecuador.

The Goldsaum is from Central to Southern Ecuador and Northern Peru (Tumbes).

So your here to tell jokes first, then to learn huh????

That's what my boss says about me at work. lol.

Here is a link to an educational website on catfish.
They collected these fish about 30 miles South from where I got my fish.
Infact, these fish are the Southern most Cichlids on the Pacific side of South America.

http://silurus.acnatsci.org/ACSI/field/Peru2004/fish/Cichlidae/Cichlidae.html
 
It's so confusing :confused:
I went to a Petsmart and Petco today and I was looking at the GTs and I specifically remember the scientific name being Aequidens Rivulatus. I know! I know...chains, bad! But they look like Goldsaums in there. So it makes me wonder...How many people think that bought a "green terror" is A. Rivulatus when it's really A. Goldsaum?
 
This is all a question of taxonomy. If you go to Petsmart, Petco. Petland or most LFS's, you are most likely to encounter Goldsaum's. The true A.rivulatus doesn't look much different than an underdeveloped Goldsaum anyway.

When fish are exported from their respective countries, they catch (or farm) fish that will sell. Goldsaum's sell, so that's why this is the Green Terror that you would most likely see in a store. Either way, they are impressive fish and should be kept for the fact that they are nice fish, not because they are currently assigned to a particular species or not.

There are many species of cichlids found in Ecuador, but only a few are exported in numbers (RT’s & GT's).

This is why the Peruvian Terror has been so uncommon (and expensive). Most exports from Peru come from the Amazon. The Peruvian GT's are found in coastal streams that drain into the Pacific that are not anywhere near the "normal" collecting areas.

The people that catch fish for the pet trade have to make a choice of setting up shop in the Amazon where there are countless amounts of species to catch or going to a cold stream draining from the Andes for a few species. The Peruvian Terror is the only cichlid in its habitat. I did collect some large tetras, livebearers and mullet in the same river I caught my fish, but the rest of the fish were introduced species. There are Rainbow Trout in the Rio Canete. This is why these fish are not exported in numbers.

Petsmart doesn't have a team of taxonomist's on their payroll that I know of and the Goldsaum is known as A.rivulatus the world over. That is why they list them as A.rivulatus.
If you Google A.rivulatus, you will see a bunch of links to information about Goldsaum’s.
 
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