Nanochromis Splendens
- Thread starter Bob
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Grimblegrumble
Member
they are such pretty fish!
dwarfpike
Well-Known Member
Nice to see more Westies on here. The TRUE African cichlids. 
:
Though, from what I could see from the male's tail pattern, they look more like the hobby splendens and not the true splendens. But he was moving quick in the video making it hard to tell. The Wetspot did have the true ones in a few months back, imported by Oliver Lucanus so it's possible.
The tank looks beautiful!
: Though, from what I could see from the male's tail pattern, they look more like the hobby splendens and not the true splendens. But he was moving quick in the video making it hard to tell. The Wetspot did have the true ones in a few months back, imported by Oliver Lucanus so it's possible.
The tank looks beautiful!
dwarfpike
Well-Known Member
Vicmacki said:
Wetspot did have the true ones a while ago, the pic I was using to compare yours was from their stock as well. Maybe it was the video, I just couldn't see the two different tale patterns on the male in it.
I didn't mean for it to sound negative, N. splendens is kind of like Apistogramma viejita, Geophagus surinamensis, and Guianacara geayi ... names seen often in the trade (and usually used before the species were split into several in the case of the latter two) but are extremely rare to nonexistent in the trade. Both N. splendens and A. viejita have just recently been found, and it was huge news. G. surinamensis and G. geayi are still missing except in France (where people have gone to the remote area where they are found and collected them themselves).
dwarfpike
Well-Known Member
The N. spendens very well could be, a few months back Wetspot did get in the real thing. I only mentioned it since I couldn't see the dual tail pattern on the male. That could be just because of the video though. If the top half of the tail is black and yellow horizontal stripped while the bottom is vertical blue and red, given the timing ... it would be the real deal. And also a huge score, one of the rarest Westies out there.
I would seriously doubt the G. geayi though. There used to be just one species, but they have been divided up into several recently and most places just use the old name. True G. geayi come from a country that does not have/allow commercial fishing. I could give a crack at ID'ing it if you can get a pic. There are subtle differences based on the black on the dorsal fin, the body stripe, and the mid lateral spotting. Most are usually G. stergiosi or G. sphenozona.
I would bet every dollar I have saved up for a new car that will have AC in it that the A. viejita are A. macmasteri. A. viejita just came into Europe and caused an explosion since, as far as I know, it's the first time it's been available in the hobby before.
I would seriously doubt the G. geayi though. There used to be just one species, but they have been divided up into several recently and most places just use the old name. True G. geayi come from a country that does not have/allow commercial fishing. I could give a crack at ID'ing it if you can get a pic. There are subtle differences based on the black on the dorsal fin, the body stripe, and the mid lateral spotting. Most are usually G. stergiosi or G. sphenozona.
I would bet every dollar I have saved up for a new car that will have AC in it that the A. viejita are A. macmasteri. A. viejita just came into Europe and caused an explosion since, as far as I know, it's the first time it's been available in the hobby before.
dwarfpike
Well-Known Member
This is a link to the male we were discussing when they came in ... guess it's been about a year now. The best we got was a "I cannot say that it is not splendens" by Ted Judy, one of the noted Westie experts in our hobby.
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/674/X33Nzm.jpg
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/674/X33Nzm.jpg
Bob
Well-Known Member
dwarfpike said:
It looks like after a bit of research they do indeed sell their viejita red necks as macmasteri. Very disappointing since it appears they know it's a mistake but still do it.
I'll try and get more picks of the splendens, they are pretty skittish. I have two males and three females. One male has the pattern you describe on the tale and the other doesn't have much color.
I'll also get some pics of the geayi imposters.
Bob
Well-Known Member
Few shots i got during my water change.
This article http://www.reef2rainforest.com/2015/06/ ... splendens/ states there are no plants in their habitat. I find that amazing because these guys are always in the dwarf hair grass or the chain swords.
This article http://www.reef2rainforest.com/2015/06/ ... splendens/ states there are no plants in their habitat. I find that amazing because these guys are always in the dwarf hair grass or the chain swords.