Soup To Nuts:
New Tropical Fish From Peru

All photos in this article by Mike Jacobs unless noted.

The beginning of Southern Apistos as a place to get the Apistogramma species was really out of necessity. Julio Melgar, the supplier of Peruvian apistos here in the "States" for years, decided to go south to his homeland of Peru and export fish, and as a result of the vacancy he left in the United States, Southern Apistos was born. However, I never really thought of the influx of tropical fish that would be brand new to the hobby. Just about the time you think there can't be any more new tropical fish in those rivers, they simply keep showing up.

Probably the first 'new' fish to show up was the Zebra Otto (Otocinclus sp. "Zebra"). What a nicely patterned new otto and what a worker it is. Two or three of these little algae eaters will keep a tank super clean from the dreaded algae. About the same time the Zebra Otto came out the brilliant Coral Red Pencil 1, with its 3 color forms (Alpha male, male and female) hit the market. This new import was the problem fish of the year until it was found that the transfer to water other than its home soft acid water must take twice the time of normal wild fish, and their first food almost always has to be live baby brine shrimp. Once these requirements are met what a nifty addition to anyone's tank these will be. Of course closely following the Coral Red Pencil came the Coral Red Pencil #2. The similarities between the two pencils are obvious, but the differences are just as obvious. I think I'll leave the decision to those folks that name the tropical fish, but my guess is they are two different species, not just a location difference!

Then the first killifish showed up. It was a new Moema species, but also in this shipment was another killi that was to be an instant hit.....Aphyolebias sp. "Rio Itaya". The Moema turned out to be a huge fish.....full grown with caudal tail....about 6-7"......just a monster fish and a deep diver in peat. Another peat 'diver' that came in new was the Aphyloebias sp. "Rio Itaya". It is a very nice 'mud' spawner that is not as big as the Peruvian 'national' fish, Aphyolebias peruensis, a great fish to break into the keeping of South American killifish. Of course there is a bunch of the typical Rivulins in Peru, but even some of the typical Rivs were redefined for their color. Rivulus rectocaudatus was one of those. It was a gorgeous Orange- colored fish that even some of the non-killie people desired.

Aphyolebias sp. "Rio Itaya"photo MFJacobs

Then the new tetras started coming. Until this point in my hobby of keeping fish, the tetras were almost secondary to all of the other 'nifty' fish you could keep. Then these 'new' characins started showing up and they were beautiful. I mean really nice! The schools were absolutely gorgeous. The first new one to show up was the Morado Tetra. I believe that sooner or later this little jewel will rival the neons and cardinals for popularity, for they were long lived and hardy! Then there was the Red Finned Tetra. You can see how pleasant a school this fish would make. The Carmine Tetra made quite a hit with everyone! There really was a reddish cast to the body and a flash of red in the caudal fin, and then along came the Junior Tetra. The story from Peru is very interesting. Most of the exporters in Peru thought the yellow finned fish was a different species from the red finned fish.......nope! Sexual differences. The male has red fins and the females have yellow fins. Of course the Junior Tetra was not the only new tetra to come out of Peru. There was also the Limon Tetra. The anal fins of the sexes were different. The male's anal fin was brownish and the females were yellowish. The differences were not as marked as the other tetras, but for sure they were one of the first that could be sexed by color differences!

Apistogramma panduri photo MFJacobs

Oh, yes, the Apistogramma! The typical fair of apistos might have been good enough for sure: A. cacatuoides, A.agassizii, A.bitaeniata, A. nijsseni, A. pandurini not to name a few, but then then there was a flood of new apistos. Probable the first was the A. sp. "Maulbruter" and the Maulbruter was soon followed by the new form of A. sp. juruensis and shortly thereafter came the 'new' A. sp. aff. atahualpa. The there was literal bursting of the dam and the A. cf. payaminonis, A. sp "Inca", A. sp "Fresa" and the A. sp "Harlequin" rushed forward to take their place in the hearts of 'Apisto Nuts' all over the world. And now there is another new Apisto that is ready to hit the market. It is suppose to be an overall blueish body like an adult pandurini, but it has a hi-fin like a cacatuoides or like an Inca (Look for these fish at Southern Apistos in the next few weeks). For the moment it is called an Apistogramma sp "Sunrise"(pictures soon!). What a bonanza for the tropical fish folks of the world, much less the apisto folks.

These new fish are making this hobby wonderful at every stage. Sometimes they adapt well; sometimes we have to learn how to treat these fish so that they can become part of the hobby, but indeed they will. It has been a privilege to be your link to the exciting world of the newly introduced fish from Peru. There are more on the way. SO MUCH MORE! Julio Melgar, the exporter from Peru, has agreed to write a follow up to this article for Modern Tropical Fish Bytes, and in it he will not only relay his experiences in the starting of an exporting business, but he will introduce the myriad of new fish he has observed and collected. In the past Julio was know for the Apistos, but now he will dazzle you with some of the new plecos and other species that exist in the country of Peru.

All of these new tropical fish can be seen and purchased through Southern Apistos. We have learned quite a bit about shipping in the last 3 years and both the shipping and the fish have been just great. Take a look at the site and see what NEW, WILD FISH you want in your tank and give us a holler.

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