Even the best LFS mis-label fish...

[MrDrums]

I have been on a research kick recently.....When I got my geo 2 yrs ago, it was labeled as a geophagus surinamensis, which I quickly determined it was definitely not. It took me over a year to really find out that it is a geophagus heckelii - discovered it when I saw the exact fish in another LFS - correctly labeled.

In doing a bit of research, I have found that the true geophagus heckelii are rare in the aquarium industry, and what I really have is a Threadfin Acara - technically not a geophagus at all, I guess, but with a very similar shape and similar characteristics.

Either way, it is a beautiful fish - very peaceful and a perfect tankmate for a severum and keyhole. Interestingly enough, I added a blue acara to the tank a while back, then returned it to my LFS 4 days later as it relentlessly went after the geo (threadfin). So, I'll make him an "honorary geo"........

[DrNic]

One of the LFSs I frequent does that as well. They regularly mislabel emperor and congo tetras, as well as various catfish. It happens sometimes. :hmm3grin2orange:

[Northernguy]

My lfs is selling Blue Severums!
I am kinda hoping they are turquoise sevs!

[robflanker]

which fish stores mr drum? anything up in the hartford area?

[Amazon]

My lfs does this all the time with african cichlids. It gets annoying cause you never know if theyre charging you for a more expensive fish.

[btate617]

I have been on a research kick recently.....When I got my geo 2 yrs ago, it was labeled as a geophagus surinamensis, which I quickly determined it was definitely not. It took me over a year to really find out that it is a geophagus heckelii - discovered it when I saw the exact fish in another LFS - correctly labeled.

In doing a bit of research, I have found that the true geophagus heckelii are rare in the aquarium industry, and what I really have is a Threadfin Acara - technically not a geophagus at all, I guess, but with a very similar shape and similar characteristics.

Either way, it is a beautiful fish - very peaceful and a perfect tankmate for a severum and keyhole. Interestingly enough, I added a blue acara to the tank a while back, then returned it to my LFS 4 days later as it relentlessly went after the geo (threadfin). So, I'll make him an "honorary geo"........


Just a note for anyone buying fish with the name Geophagus Surinamensis.

In 99% of the cases they will NOT be Geophagus Surinamensis. Surinamensis only come from the Suriname River, also to note the country of origin will not allow export. Ask anyone who is big into Geophagus species and I bet not one will tell you they have seen a true Geophagus Surinamensis in the hobby in the past 10-15 years. Most all Geophagus you see for sale in the hobby these days are coming from Columbia, Peru and places like this.

Geophagus Surinamensis has been a catch all name given to geo's for some reason. Most that you find labeled Surinamensis are either going to be Geophagus Altifrons and Geophagus Proximus. Both great fish also. I have seen Geophagus Steindachneri, Altifrons, Proximus and even Jurupari mislabeled as Surinamensis. If you ever did find some I would expect to pay a very high price for them.

If what you have is Acarichthys Heckelii, right on a very cool fish. You should be ok having one as they are a fairly peaceful fish, however they are rough on eachother. These fish take a long time to grow, and from what I hear one of the tougher species to breed. I would like to try them one day myself when some wilds become avaliable. Some thing I just found out is now they believe this fish is more closely related to the genus Guinacara, Guinacara Geayi. Another very cool fish.

So either way you have a very cool fish in my opinion, the best of luck with it. It will take some time but once it grow it will be a great looking fish.

Brian

[thezookeeper]

I know a lot of people won't buy fish from wal-mart, and I don't except on rare occasions, like mis labling lace syndo cats as upside down cats. I was in there one time awhile back and saw 2 lace cats in with the upside downs. The clerk tried to tell me they were a color variation. I just played dumb and got them both for less than 3 bucks apiece.:hmm3grin2orange:

[MrDrums]

Great information, thanks! It is a very cool fish, far from fully grown and slow growing. He has great coloration, and is very peaceful. He can always be found in close proximity to the green severum and the keyhole cichlid.

Over the past 2 yrs. some really great coloration has started to develop on this fish.

[KingFisher]

I am always on the lookout for mislabeled fish when I go to my lfs. It's kind of like treasure hunting.

[thatcichlidguy]

Just a note for anyone buying fish with the name Geophagus Surinamensis.

In 99% of the cases they will NOT be Geophagus Surinamensis. Surinamensis only come from the Suriname River, also to note the country of origin will not allow export. Ask anyone who is big into Geophagus species and I bet not one will tell you they have seen a true Geophagus Surinamensis in the hobby in the past 10-15 years. Most all Geophagus you see for sale in the hobby these days are coming from Columbia, Peru and places like this.

Geophagus Surinamensis has been a catch all name given to geo's for some reason. Most that you find labeled Surinamensis are either going to be Geophagus Altifrons and Geophagus Proximus. Both great fish also. I have seen Geophagus Steindachneri, Altifrons, Proximus and even Jurupari mislabeled as Surinamensis. If you ever did find some I would expect to pay a very high price for them.

If what you have is Acarichthys Heckelii, right on a very cool fish. You should be ok having one as they are a fairly peaceful fish, however they are rough on eachother. These fish take a long time to grow, and from what I hear one of the tougher species to breed. I would like to try them one day myself when some wilds become avaliable. Some thing I just found out is now they believe this fish is more closely related to the genus Guinacara, Guinacara Geayi. Another very cool fish.

So either way you have a very cool fish in my opinion, the best of luck with it. It will take some time but once it grow it will be a great looking fish.

Brian
Good info. The A. heckelii are burrow spawners , which makes them such a challenge to spawn in captivity. I've heard reports that there have been a few successfull spawns by people using large flower pots set upside down with the bottoms knocked out and mostly burried to simulate a burrow.

Speaking of odd relations , I read a paper a while back on some recent DNA research that was done to establish more closely how the SA cichlids are related to each other. Turns out that Oscars are more closely related to pikes than any other group.

Acaras are another group that is commonly mislabled. Particularly the less common ones. It's not really the LFS that's to blame for all of this though. They just get what an order list tells them they can get . The distributors are generally the culprits there. It's not always easy to tell many cichlids apart considering many look identicle as juvies and many species look alot alike even as adults . When the difference in species is minute , things get mixed up.

[MrDrums]

Great info! I learn something new about my own fish every day. Got to change the info. in my signature now.....

[hari-goshi]

Yes , it happens at the best of places:scry:. My favorite LFS continues to mislabel M.cyanerhabdos as M.johanni , even after I informed the manager of the differences. The crazy thing is this place doesnt even have a mixed african tank , they are usually very thorough.