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BABailey's Fish Pages



Aequidens rivulatus (silver saum)
Male


photo by BABailey



FamilyAequidens
Scientific Name - rivulatus (silver saum)


Common Name – green terror


Locality - There are two color variants known by the common name 'Green Terror', one has a white stripe and is known as (silver saum) - the other has a saffron stripe and is known as (gold saum). There has been some debate and confusion over whether these two were in fact different species or merely variants. Apparently there is a drainage divide which goes from the Ecuadorian Andes and west to Esmeralda. This ridge passes the town of Santo Domingo de Los Colorados and heads westward. The (silver saum) variant comes from the northern side of the divide in western Ecuador in the Rio Esmeralda and tributaries, and also rivers north of Rio Esmeraldas. Watersheds to the south of this ridge run out in the Gulf of Guayaquil and is known as the Guayas River system. The (gold saum) variant comes from this southern side of the divide. […according to the research of A. Stalsberg]
pH – 6.8-7.6
Temperature (in F) - 74-86F (80-84F for breeding)
Max size (in inches) - 6-10"
Minimum tank size - at least 75g
Sociability - Their common name of Green Terror is more a referance to the fact that while they may belong to the acara family they do not fit the typical acara mold of smallish and semi-peaceful ... In actuality they are similar to other equally sized CA/SA cichlids ... Depends on fish ... Some are tolerant, while others are really aggressive
Breeding - Egglayer ... Fish will form strong pair bonds ... females guarding the fry and males patrolling the edges of their territory
Temperament - My females seem to be the more aggressive of the pairs ... and the silver saums in general seem to be much more beligerent than the gold saums

Comments – Beautiful fish - one of my favorites of all my cichlids ... males may develop a nunchal hump with age

Personal Experience - I purchased a silver saum and added it to the gold saum's tank ... being under the impression that it was female - i then put out inquiries and found someone willing to part with a small male ... installed the two in their own 75g and sat back to await developments ... imagine my chagrin to see that developments were that my original silver 'female' was in fact a late blooming male ... have since purchased two smaller (hopefully) females for this tank

To see how the goldsaums and silversaums related with each other in their side-by-side tanks - [CLICK HERE]


Additional photos:

Shot of large male (motion blurred)
photo by BABailey

shot of smaller male
photo by BABailey

shot of large male - juvenile female - and small male
photo by BABailey

shot of juvenile
photo by BABailey

shot of large male as a juvenile in the goldsaum tank
photo by BABailey




BABailey's Fish Pages