Hi all,
I've asked this many times in different forums before but always get different answer.
I bought these 5 little fish back in January 2005 as Geophagus Aripuana - wild caught. I didn't know much about South American eartheaters let alone the Geophagus genus. The fish didn't have much distinct characteristics when young. But each has thick diagonal barrings, not split or thin like some altifrons that were available in some LFS.
Here are some pics taken in chronological order. The label shows for eg. 0501 means 2005 January and so on.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d8.../Geo0501_3.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d8...us/Geo0503.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d8.../Geo0504_2.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d8.../Geo0509_3.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d8.../Geo0511_1.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d8.../Geo0511_3.jpg
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d8.../Geo0511_4.jpg
I refer to Weidner, South American Eartheaters, page 90, Characters of the species. It mentions that altifrons absents of a lateral spot, however, presents in a number of specimens, but only small.
You can see mines have that lateral spot. So does the fish that ladyred posted.
Can someone sheds some light?
Thanks,
DD