Apistogrammas are identified by the use of "A numbers"in a similar fashion to the "L number" system used to identify loricariids. Apistogramma brevis is identified as A168. Additionally, apistos are also grouped into type families and this species is the species type of the brevis group.

Unlike some apistogramma species, a. brevis occurs only in a relatively small range and has not been found outside this.

personata complex gibbiceps group…

In the aquarium hobby, the population from the rio Tiquié has been referred to as ‘C084’, while a similar, but larger, form from the Río Huallaga in Peru is known as ‘C085’. Both forms have been marketed as C. sp. ‘mega metae’.

The existence of multiple, similarly-coloured species which coexist and sometimes form mixed schools is relatively common in the genus.