Edit Apistogramma trifasciata

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Name

Scientific name

Apistogramma trifasciata

Described by

Authority Eigenmann & Kennedy, Year 1903, Bracketed

Family

Cichlidae

Common names

Three-striped Apisto, A204

Photograph credits

All 6 credited

Summary

The three-striped apisto, Apistogramma trifasciata, is a dwarf cichlid from the Guaporé, Paraguay and middle Paraná basins. Found in Brazil…

Size and aquarium

Maximum size

55mm, standard length

Aquarium size

Minimum length 45 cm, Minimum depth 30 cm

Water

Water conditions

Temperature 20–25°C, pH 5–7

Hardness

1–10dGH

Conductivity

Not recorded

Behaviour

Temperament

Not recorded

Community suitability

Not for a community

Where it lives

Countries, regions, rivers and lakes

Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Amazon, Guaporé, Paraguay, Paraná

Writing

Etymology

Apistogramma: from the Greek apisto, meaning 'meaning uncertain, inconstant, unstable, faithless', and gramme, meaning 'line', in reference to the variably-dev…

Distribution

Type locality is 'Arroyo Chagalalina' in Paraguay but this species has a relatively wide distribution extending southwards from the rio Guaporé drainage in the…

Habitat

Sluggish creeks, tributaries and smaller rivers, especially in areas where leaf litter collects.

Aquarium size

Base dimensions of 45 ∗ 30 cm or equivalent are acceptable for a single pair with a group requiring larger quarters.

Maintenance

Provided adequate cover and structure is available this species is unfussy with regards to décor with ceramic flowerpots, lengths of plastic piping and other a…

Water conditions

Not written yet

Diet

Apistogramma spp. are chiefly carnivorous and feed mostly on benthic invertebrates in nature. In the aquarium live and frozen foods such as Artemia, Daphnia, M…

Behaviour and compatibility

Captive-raised fish are the recommended choice for the community aquarium. Wild examples are best maintained alone or with small 'dither' fishes such as Nannos…

Sexual dimorphism

Males are larger, more colourful and develop more extended fins than females.

Reproduction

Substrate spawner which normally lays its eggs in crevices or cavities among the décor. Sexually-mature males establish territories and react aggressively to o…

Notes

This species is assigned the 'A' number A204 under the DATZ system with possibly conspecific, related forms coded A205 or A206 depending on collection locality…

This species is assigned the 'A' number A204 under the DATZ system with possibly conspecific, related forms coded A205 or A206 depending on collection locality and representing populations from Argentina and the rio Guaporé, respectively.

A206 from the rio Guaporé exists in both red and blue colour forms and these apparently occur together in nature.

Following Römer (2006) it can be told apart from congeners the following combination of characters: caudal-fin rounded; lateral body stripe about one scale wide and extending onto base of caudal-fin; a narrow dark stripe extending posteriorly from behind eye to the posterior edge of the operculum; an additional third stripe extending posteriorly from pectoral-fin insertion to the anterior anal-fin insertion; no dark spot at caudal-fin base; dorsal-fin with pointed, normally highly-extended membranes on the first 4-6 hard rays; body colour ranging from emerald green to steel blue with the head yellow and dorsal-fin partially red.

Apistogramma is among the most speciose of South American cichlid genera with around 70 species valid at present but many more awaiting description.

In addition many species exist in two or more geographical colour forms which may or may not turn out to be distinct in the future.

Hobbyists tend to label these with collection data if available in order to avoid mixing them and the potential of hybridisation.

Member species have also been organised into a series of species lineages, complexes and groups by authors in order to better separate them.

Such lists have been augmented by fish that have appeared in the aquarium trade and are in a state of near-constant flux.

The A. trifasciata sublineage, for example, is ordered within the larger A. trifasciata lineage and comprises the A. arua, A. brevis, A. cacatuoides, A. atahualpa, A. nijsseni and A. trifasciata species groups.

Apistogramma and a number of related genera are often included in the putative subfamily Geophaginae.

Kullander (1998) conducted a morphology-based phylogenetic study in which the neotropical Cichlidae was divided into six subfamilies of which the Geophaginae contained 16 genera divided among three 'tribes':

Acarichthyini - Acarichthys and Guianacara.
Crenicaratini - Biotoecus, Crenicara, Dicrossus and Mazarunia.
Geophagini - Geophagus, Mikrogeophagus, 'Geophagus' brasiliensis group, 'Geophagus' steindachneri group, Gymnogeophagus, Satanoperca, Biotodoma, Apistogramma, Apistogrammoides and Taeniacara.

Later molecular studies by Farias et al. (1999, 2000, 2001) resulted in the additions of Crenicichla and Teleocichla to the Geophaginae, a result supported by López-Fernández et al. (2005) who conducted the most detailed molecular analysis of the grouping to date including 16 of the 18 genera and 30 species.

However their conclusions regarding interrelationships between genera did vary somewhat from previous hypotheses and can be summarised by the following loosely-defined groups:

- a weakly-supported sister group relationship between Acarichthys and Guianacara.
- a well-supported "Satanoperca clade" comprising Satanoperca, Apistogramma, Apistogrammoides and Taeniacara.
- a "big clade" with Geophagus, Mikrogeophagus, 'Geophagus' brasiliensis group, 'Geophagus' steindachneri group, Gymnogeophagus, Biotodoma, Crenicara and Dicrossus.
- a "crenicarine clade" with Biotoecus and Crenicichla.

No representatives of Teleocichla or Mazarunia were included in the study but the former is well-established as sister to Crenicichla while the latter has grouped closely with Dicrossus and Crenicara in earlier works.

The other main conclusions of the paper are confirmation that Geophaginae is a monophyletic group exhibiting strong signs of having undergone rapid adaptive radiation.

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References

8 on this profile

Name

Scientific name

Described by

Family

Common names

Photograph credits

Summary

Size and aquarium

Maximum size

Aquarium size

Water

Water conditions

Hardness

Conductivity

Behaviour

Temperament

Social needs

Community suitability

Where it lives

Countries, regions, rivers and lakes

Writing

Etymology

Distribution

Habitat

Aquarium size

Maintenance

Water conditions

Diet

Behaviour and compatibility

Sexual dimorphism

Reproduction

Notes

References

References