Apistogramma Regan, 1913
Apistogramma taeniata (Günther, 1862)
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Original Description:
Regan, Charles T.; 1913; "Fishes from the River Ucayali, Peru, collected by W. Mounsey"; Annals and Magazine of Natural History; (Ser.
pp. 281-283.
Synonyms:
Heterogramma Regan, 1906. Determiner: Kullander, 1980.
Pintoichthys Fowler, 1954. Determiner: Kullander, 1980.
" Apistogramma is one of the most species-rich genera of cichlid fishes in South America "
Etymology: feminine, apisto = uncertain (Greek) + gramma = signal (Greek).
Distribution: Distributed in tropical South America east of the Andes, including Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, the Guyanas, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. The representatives are found in lowlands in the drainages of the Amazon, Caeté, Capim, Morichal Largo (Venezuela), Orinoco, Paraguay, Paraná (in Argentina), Parnaíba, Tocantins, Uruguay (middle-lower reaches) and the coastal Guianan drainages.
Comments: The genus Apistogramma is one of the most species-rich genera of cichlid fishes in South America. Only the genus Crenicichla can compete with it in numbers of species. Presently, Dr. S. O. Kullander lists 62 (plus 4 new) described species as valid, but there are probably twice as many presently undescribed species that have entered the hobby over the past 30 years. In addition, a large number of distinct populations (often called “forms”) and color morphs exits that may or may not be species in their own right. This leads to problems in deciding which are valid species. I tend to be more of a “splitter”. I do this for two reasons. First, I feel that we need to avoid crossing different populations in the hobby as much as possible. Many of these populations are extremely rare and not yet studied. Once crossed with other similar populations many of these possible species could be lost to the hobby. If they turn out to be populations of the same species, then no real harm is done, but if they turn out to be distinct species, then we can loose species purity in the hobby due to unintentional hybridization. Second, genetic studies indicate that the genus Apistogramma is not only evolving very rapidly (Farias, et al., 2001), but that genetically distinct species can be almost indistinguishable from each other (Ready, et al., 2006).
I have been compiling lists of Apistogramma species for the past 27 years, first for the Apistogramma Study Group and now for several web based apisto sites. The list of species is my opinion of which are valid species and which are merely geographic populations. My list is based on information provided to me by apistophiles from all over the world. It is strongly influenced by the works of Kullander, Koslowski and the preliminary genetic work by Miller and Schliewen. I doubt that others with an extensive knowledge of the genus will agree completely with this list, yet I feel it is accurate for the most part. It will undoubtedly change – as it has in the past – as new data appear.
My groupings are based on work originally published by Kullander (1980; 1986), Koslowski (1985; 2002) and the preliminary genetic studies published Miller & Schliewen (2005) as well as more recent discoveries. Finally, I provide a generalized “Distribution” for each form, if known..
Described species included (70):
Mesops taeniatus Günther, 1862
Geophagus amoenus Cope, 1871
Geophagus (Mesops) agassizii Steindachner, 1875
Biotodoma trifasciatus Eigenmann & Kennedy, 1903
Heterogramma commbrae Regan, 1906
Heterogramma borellii Regan, 1906
Heterogramma steindachneri Regan, 1908
Heterogramma pleurotaenia Regan, 1909
Heterogramma trifasciatum maciliense Haseman, 1911
Heterogramma taeniatum pertense Haseman, 1911
Heterogramma ortmanni Eigenmann, 1912
Apistogramma ortmanni rupununi Fowler, 1914
Apistogramma parva Ahl, 1931
Apistogramma pertense v. bitaeniata Pellegrin, 1936
Apistogramma cacatuoides Hoedeman, 1951
Apistogramma hoignei Meinken, 1965
Apistogramma gibbiceps Meinken, 1969
Apistogramma geisleri Meinken, 1971
Apistogramma luelingi Kullander, 1976
Apistogramma viejita Kullander, 1979
Apistogramma nijsseni Kullander, 1979
Apistogramma hongsloi Kullander, 1979
Apistogramma iniridae Kullander, 1979
Apistogramma macmasteri Kullander, 1979
Apistogramma personata Kullander, 1980
Apistogramma elizabethae Kullander, 1980
Apistogramma meinkeni Kullander, 1980
Apistogramma moae Kullander, 1980
Apistogramma piauiensis Kullander, 1980
Apistogramma uaupesi Kullander, 1980
Apistogramma pulchra Kullander, 1980
Apistogramma regani Kullander, 1980
Apistogramma resticulosa Kullander, 1980
Apistogramma brevis Kullander, 1980
Apistogramma caetei Kullander, 1980
Apistogramma gephyra Kullander, 1980
Apistogramma eunotus Kullander, 1981
Apistogramma hippolytae Kullander, 1982
Apistogramma gossei Kullander, 1982
Apistogramma inconspicua Kullander, 1983
Apistogramma urteagai Kullander, 1983
Apistogramma staecki Koslowski, 1985
Apistogramma linkei Koslowski, 1985
Apistogramma cruzi Kullander, 1986
Apistogramma payaminonis Kullander, 1986
Apistogramma juruensis Kullander, 1986
Apistogramma diplotaenia Kullander, 1987
Apistogramma paucisquamis Kullander, 1988
Apistogramma guttata Antonio, Kullander & Lasso, 1990
Apistogramma norberti Staeck, 1991
Apistogramma mendezi Römer, 1994
Apistogramma atahualpa Römer, 1997
Apistogramma panduro Römer, 1997
Apistogramma arua Römer & Warzel, 1998
Apistogramma rubrolineata Hein, Zarske & Zapata, 2002
Apistogramma similis Staeck, 2003
Apistogramma acrensis Staeck, 2003
Apistogramma tucurui Staeck, 2003
Apistogramma inornata Staeck, 2003
Apistogramma velifera Staeck, 2003
Apistogramma martini Römer, Hahn, Römer, Soares & Wöhler, 2003
Apistogramma alacrina Kullander, 2004
Apistogramma eremnopyge Ready & Kullander, 2004
Apistogramma baenschi Römer, 2004
Apistogramma angayuara Kullander & Ferreira, 2005
Apistogramma salpinction Kullander & Ferreira, 2005
Apistogramma pantalone Römer, Römer, Soares & Hahn, 2006
Apistogramma rositae Römer, Römer & Hahn, 2006
Apistogramma wapisana Römer, Hahn & Conrad, 2006
Apistogramma huascar Römer, Pretor & Hahn, 2006
Potentially undescribed species (
:
sp. 'black chin'
sp. 'breitbinden'
sp. 'eartheater'
sp. 'papagei'
sp. 'rio mamoré'
sp. 'rot punkt'
sp. 'white seam'
sp. 'wilhelmi'
Species groups:
Agassizii group agassizii, gephyra, parva, pulchra, sp. 'wilhelmi',
Atahualpa group atahualpa, huascar,
Bitaeniata group bitaeniata, eremnopyge, mendezi, paucisquamis,
Borellii group borellii,
Brevis group brevis, personata, sp. 'breitbinden',
Cacatuoides group cacatuoides, juruensis, luelingi, norberti, sp. 'black chin', staecki,
Diplotaenia group diplotaenia,
Elizabethae group elizabethae,
Gibbiceps group gibbiceps,
Iniridae group iniridae, uaupesi,
Macmasteri group guttata, hoignei, hongsloi, macmasteri, viejita,
Nijsseni group baenschi, martini, nijsseni, panduro, pantalone, payaminonis, rositae,
Pertensis group angayuara, inornata, meinkeni, pertense, sp. 'eartheater', velifera,
Regani group acrensis, caetei, commbrae, cruzi, eunotus, geisleri, gossei, inconspicua, linkei, moae, ortmanni, piauiense, pleurotaenia, regani, resticulosa, rubrolineata, similis, sp. 'papagei', taeniata, tucurui, urteagai,
Rotpunkt group alacrina, sp. 'rot punkt',
Steindachneri group hippolytae, rupununi, steindachneri,
Trifasciata group sp. 'rio mamoré', trifasciata,
Wapisana group sp. 'white seam', wapisana,
References:
Farias, I. & G. Orti, I. Sampaio, H. Schneider & A. Meyer; 2001; "The cytochrome b gene as a phylogenetic marker: the limits of resolution for analyzing relationships among cichlid fishes"; Journal of Molecular Evolution; (n.53); pp. 89-103.
Koslowski, I.; 1985; "Die Buntbarsche der Neuen Welt - Zwergcichliden"; Reimar Hobbing GmbH. Essen; pp. 1-192.
Koslowski, I.; 2002; "Die Buntbarsche Amerikas – Band 2: Apistogramma & Co"; Verlag Eugen Ulmer GmbH & Co. Stuttgart; pp. 1-318.
Kullander, Sven O.; 1980; "A Taxonomical Study of the Genus Apistogramma Regan, with a Revision of Brazilian and Peruvian Species (Teleostei: Percoidei: Cichlidae)"; Bonner Zoologische Monographien; pp. 1-152.
Kullander, Sven O.; 1986; "Cichlid Fishes of the Amazon River Drainage of Peru"; Swedish Museum of Natural History. Cichlids Amazon; pp. 1-431.
Miller, M. & U. Schliewen; 2005; "The molecular phylogeny of the genus Apistogramma – a working hypothesis"; Südamerikanische Zwergcichliden/South American Dwarf Cichlids. D. Aquar. u. Terr. Z. DATZ-Sonderheft/DATZ-Special Publication. Eugen Ulmer KG. Stuttgart; pp. 1-129.
Ready, S. Jonathan & I. Sampaio, H. Schneider, C. Vinson, T. Dos Santos & G. F. Turner; 2005; "Colour forms of Amazonian cichlid fish represent reproductively isolated species"; Journal of Evolutionary Biology; v. 19; (n. 4): pp. 1139-1148.
Wise, Mike; 2007; "A list of Apistogramma species, as of November 2007"; The Cichlid Room Companion (
http://www.cichlidae.com); .
by
http://www.cichlidae.info/gallery/genus.php?g=Apistogramma
