Apistogramma gossei

By Pet Zone SD Team • November 2026

Overview

Apistogramma gossei is a small, little-documented dwarf cichlid from the French Guiana/Brazil border whose clearest claim to attention is who it's named for. Sven Kullander described it in 1982, in a paper titled "Description of a new species of Apistogramma Regan from the Oyapock and Approuague River systems" (Cybium, 3rd series, 6(4):65–72), and named it in honor of Jean-Pierre Gosse (1924–2001), a Belgian biologist and ichthyologist at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences. Gosse is a real, independently documented figure in his own right: Wikipedia credits him with joining scientific missions to South America alongside Prince — later King — Leopold III of Belgium, and with personally describing several other neotropical cichlid species over his career, including Geophagus wavrini, Pterophyllum leopoldi, Geophagus harreri, Cichlasoma lyonsi, and two Retroculus species. He didn't describe Apistogramma gossei himself — Kullander named this one for him, the same way this site's own A. regani honors Charles Tate Regan without having been described by Regan.

Cichlidae.com (Cichlid Room Companion) places gossei in the genus's "Regani" species group — the same complex already documented on this site through regani itself, caetei, commbrae, pleurotaenia, and linkei. That makes gossei the sixth confirmed Regani-group species covered on this site, extending a taxonomic thread that now runs from an 1906 Charles Tate Regan description all the way to this 1982 Kullander paper.

Natural Habitat

No source checked for this guide gives vegetation, substrate, or water-color (blackwater vs. clearwater) detail for the species' actual collection sites. What's confirmed, per FishBase and Cichlidae.com's citation of the original description, is the drainage: the Oyapock and Approuague river systems, which run through French Guiana and along the Brazilian border. Treat general soft, slightly acidic South American lowland stream conditions as the working assumption for this species, not a confirmed biotope.

Tank Setup

• Tank size: No source gives a species-specific minimum. This guide applies the same 20-gallon-long (60–100cm) default used across this site's other lesser-documented apistos; see our tank setup guide.
• Substrate & décor: Not documented for this species specifically. PlanetCatfish and Aquatic Republic's breeding-tank advice calls for a simple spawning surface such as an upturned small plant pot — the same low-cost approach used for several other apistos on this site. Soft sand with driftwood and leaf litter is a safe general default.
• Water chemistry: PlanetCatfish and Aquatic Republic agree on breeding-specific water: slightly acidic (pH 6.0–6.5) and soft, around 5 dH. Neither gives a separate general-keeping range. See our water parameters guide for building soft, slightly acidic water safely.
• Filtration & flow: Not documented. Gentle flow and stable, mature water are a safe default for any lesser-documented apisto — see our water quality guide.

Feeding

PlanetCatfish and Aquatic Republic give genus-standard feeding guidance: offer food that reaches the bottom third of the tank, such as sinking flakes and granules, as a daily base diet. Live or frozen foods — bloodworm and brine shrimp are both named — are recommended specifically for conditioning a breeding pair. No source gives anything species-specific beyond this; see our general feeding guide for broader conditioning strategy.

Temperament & Compatibility

No source checked for this guide rates aggression, territoriality, or compatibility with other dwarf cichlids for this species. Treat it like a typical small apisto — calm tankmates, no other Apistogramma species in the same tank to avoid hybridization — until a keeper with firsthand experience documents more. FishBase notes the species is harmless to humans, for what that's worth to a home aquarist.

Breeding

Gossei is a cave spawner, consistent with every other species on this site and with FishBase's own description of eggs attached to a cave ceiling with the female tending both eggs and larvae. For the breeding tank specifically, PlanetCatfish and Aquatic Republic recommend one male with several females rather than a single fixed pair when no bonded pair already exists, with a dedicated breeding surface such as a small upturned plant pot. Water should be nudged toward pH 6.0–6.5 and soft hardness (~5 dH) to help trigger spawning. Neither source checked for this guide logs an actual breeding report or firsthand hobbyist account for this species — a genuine documentation gap, not just thin detail. Follow our general breeding guide for the broader conditioning-to-fry process.

Sourcing Notes

This is one of the hardest species on this site to track down with any confidence. Aquatic Republic's own species page for A. gossei is titled, verbatim, "Got a picture?" — the same no-confirmed-photo placeholder already flagged on this site's own A. regani page — and that page carries zero breeding reports, wishlist entries, or spotter records. Cichlidae.com does have one photo on file, a single aquarium specimen credited to a named keeper, but no source checked for this guide documents a recent import or any current commercial availability. If you find gossei offered today, ask specifically about import recency and collection locality, the same caution this site gives for its other genuinely obscure Regani-group relatives. See our general sourcing guide for broader guidance on verifying identification and stock quality.

Final Thoughts

Gossei won't win anyone over with color, availability, or a dramatic naming story — it's a small, thinly-documented French Guiana apisto named for a real Belgian ichthyologist who never described the fish himself, and it's scarce enough in the hobby that its own reference-site page is a placeholder asking for a photo. What it does offer is a clean example of this site's recurring theme: published sources on a lesser-known apisto don't always agree, and the honest answer is sometimes "sources conflict and we can't resolve it," as with gossei's IUCN status. If you want an established, far more available species to start with, try cacatuoides or borellii. If the taxonomic threads that connect this genus together are what draw you in, gossei now sits alongside five other confirmed Regani-group species on this site — regani, caetei, commbrae, pleurotaenia, and linkei.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who was Apistogramma gossei named after?

Jean-Pierre Gosse (1924–2001), a Belgian biologist and ichthyologist at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences who took part in scientific missions to South America alongside Prince (later King) Leopold III of Belgium. Gosse described several of his own neotropical cichlid species over his career — including Geophagus wavrini, Pterophyllum leopoldi, Geophagus harreri, Cichlasoma lyonsi, and two Retroculus species — but Apistogramma gossei itself wasn't one of them. Sven Kullander described and named this species in Gosse's honor in 1982, in a paper titled "Description of a new species of Apistogramma Regan from the Oyapock and Approuague River systems" (Cybium, 3rd series, 6(4):65–72).

How big does Apistogramma gossei get?

About 1.7 inches (44mm standard length), per both PlanetCatfish's and Aquatic Republic's data sheets — small even by apisto standards. Treat FishBase's own page for this species with caution: alongside that same 44mm figure, it separately lists an inconsistent 7.0cm total-length maximum, and elsewhere on the same page prints a male/female size comparison of "60cm" versus "40cm," which is obviously a data-entry error for a fish of this size. This guide uses the cleaner, cross-confirmed 1.7in (44mm) SL figure rather than any of FishBase's internally conflicting numbers.

What water parameters does Apistogramma gossei need?

PlanetCatfish and Aquatic Republic's shared breeding guidance calls for slightly acidic, soft water — roughly pH 6.0–6.5 and about 5 dH — to help trigger spawning. Neither source gives a separate, wider range for everyday (non-breeding) maintenance, and FishBase adds only a temperature figure of 23–29°C (73–84°F) with no pH or hardness data at all. Lacking a confirmed general range, this guide applies the same soft, slightly acidic water genus-wide care calls for; see our water parameters guide for building that water safely.

Is Apistogramma gossei endangered?

Sources disagree, and neither side is obviously the error. Cichlidae.com, PlanetCatfish, and Aquatic Republic all independently list the IUCN status as "Not Evaluated." FishBase's page, by contrast, states a status of "Least Concern" with an assessment year of 2020. A direct search of the IUCN Red List itself turns up no listing for this species, which lines up with the three-source "Not Evaluated" position — but this guide can't independently confirm FishBase's 2020 figure is wrong, only that it doesn't match what the other sources, or the Red List's own site, currently show.

Why is Apistogramma gossei so hard to find in the hobby?

Because almost no one seems to have kept or photographed one recently enough to say otherwise. Aquatic Republic's own species page for A. gossei is titled, verbatim, "Got a picture?" — the same placeholder this site has already flagged on its own A. regani page — and that page logs zero breeding reports, wishlist entries, or spotter records. Cichlidae.com's photo on file is a single aquarium specimen credited to one named keeper. No source checked for this guide documents a recent import or confirmed current commercial availability, consistent with this site's own A. regani, A. linkei, and A. staecki — all genuinely obscure, not just rare.