Pike ID

[dwarfpike]

I found this little one in a tank listed as Cr. wallacii, so I nabbed it because I have had the Cr. wallacii coming out of Colombia the last couple of years twice and knew it didn't match that species at all (males have no dorsal coloration, females have an orange rimmed ocelli). I emailed the pics to Vin Kutty, and he said he had never seen anything like this in the US before. Since there are a lot of European aquarists on this forum, I thought I'd post the ID question here in case someone has come across it across the pond. I'm guessing it comes from Colombia, since that is where the species it was listed at has been currently coming out of. I am emailing the wholesaler to see if I can get verification on that.

I've kept four of the wallacii group pikes before (compressiceps, noto's, regani, wallacii 'Colombia') and it's definitely something new to me ... pics were taken outside in the natural light to avoid having the flash wash out the unique dorsal pattern, but of course that means the fish is in stress pattern.





Any and all thoughts welcome!

Thanks
Chris

[smitty]

My knowledge with them is limited but he is nice. It really makes me laugh that people in the business have no clue about what they are selling.

[dwarfpike]

A bit, though I can't blame them. Not everyone can specialize in every group of fish.

Thanks. I loved the dorsal pattern, so had to grab it.

[dwarfpike]

Success!!!

Tentatively of course. It seems Oliver Lucanus has pics of this dwarf, coming out of the Rio Inirida and being mixed in with the Colombian Wallacii. This very well might be the sp. Iniridae dwarf that has been on lists lately.

Thanks to Scat for finding it.

[Florent]

Hi Chris,

I saw pictures of the fish you call Colombian wallacii, on another forum (Cichlid-forum) and I think this fish is Crenicichla sp. "Orinoco dwarf" (you can see nice pictures on the Cichlid Room Companion Catalogue) This species is close to Crenicichla notophthalmus and it's sometime called Crenicichla sp. aff. notophthalmus

Your new fish is, I agree, different from the first one and look like a fish we have in France and Europe called Crenicichla cf. wallacii 'Rio Branco' or 'Boa Vista'

There is only a male on the Cichlid Room Companion Catalogue but Jens Gottwald who caught for the first time this variant have pictures of this fish

Female

Male


Pictures of the expedition

Are you sure that the new fish is from Columbia ?

[dwarfpike]

Florent - Thanks for the reply. I love those pictures in the link!!!

I actually bought her becuase I thought it might be sp. Orinoco Dwarf ... but the female doesn't have any dorsal ocelli which would rule them out.

I am as sure as I can be that they came from Colombia. The wholesaler said that is where it was imported from, and I doubt they would mention if their collectors were making illegal runs into Brazil.

I was leading towards the Cr. wallacii 'Rio Branco' myself until I was sent the pics of the new, undescribed fish.

The pics below are not mine, but posted on a thread and are Oliver Lucanus' I believe ... The dorsal pattern on the female is a closer match than the Rio Branco Cr. wallacii, and these are coming out of the Rio Inirida along side the Colombian Cr.wallacii.

[Florent]

You are rigth , the new species form Rio Inirida have only a red band on the dorsal fin, just like your fish, the Rio branco wallcii have all the dorsal red !

[dwarfpike]

Now I just have to take a very close look at the males in the Cr. wallacii tanks and see if I can pick out one of the sp. Inirida Dwarves for my little girl. And have a divider handy, I hate trying to force pair pike cichlids, it rarely works out well.

[Florent]

The picture isn't form Oliver Lucanus but for an Italian aquarist

http://mahengechromis.blogspot.com/2010 ... prese.html

[Florent]

Maybe it's a female Crenicichla sp. 'Orinoco dwarf' without any ocellus on dorsal fin. Is there other fish with the same coloration in the wholesaler tanks ?

[dwarfpike]

Not sure, the wholesaler is quite a bit away from where I live. It seems they were contaminants mixed in with the Colombian wallacii ... but all they all come from the same area of Colombia so it's definitely possible. My first thought though, if she was a sp. orinoco dwarf without the spot, she'd still have the white band through her dorsal and the black tips. Scatocephalus posted his sp. Orinoco dwarves on a thread of mine on a different site, and the female looks quite a bit different (hope he doesn't mind the reposting):






(Not trying to argue with you by the way, just posting thoughts about them I've had, my thought processes in ruling out one species or another - I wish I could read Italian for that link)

[dwarfpike]

It's been a while but I thought I'd post an updated, nonstressed picture of her ... still calling her sp. Inirida dwarf (tentatively):