I posted this a while back and the fish has since grown (a lot) but I'm still not 100% what he is. Can anyone shed more light on this? I believe he is a tilapia of some kind but not sure what.
Update of mystery fish.
- Thread starter Mikelove90
- Start date
Thst is a tilapia and it looks like an Oreochromis/Sarotherodon tanganyikae,not sure what they are calling them these days.I had one years ago and it grew to at least twelve inches and very beautiful with the light blue coloring.
There are almost 1000 different species of Tilapines (including the newly adopted genera) and many look very much alike. So the only way to really know species, is to know the location where it (or its ancestors) were caught, different species range from the midwestern countries in of Syria and Israel in the sea of Galilee in the north, all the way south, to the southern tip of Africa.
Add to that, in the US hybridization had become common place, decades ago when they were brought here from Africa to be farmed as food fish. And to appeal to the palate the black coloration was attempted to be line bred out, and other color strains were developed, hence the pink, silver and blue varieties became available in many restaurants.
Herbert Axelrods book, "The Complete Lexicon of Cichlids", has hundreds of nice photos with a separate section just for Tilapines, And although expensive, and names have been updated since it was published, you might find it in a library.
Add to that, in the US hybridization had become common place, decades ago when they were brought here from Africa to be farmed as food fish. And to appeal to the palate the black coloration was attempted to be line bred out, and other color strains were developed, hence the pink, silver and blue varieties became available in many restaurants.
Herbert Axelrods book, "The Complete Lexicon of Cichlids", has hundreds of nice photos with a separate section just for Tilapines, And although expensive, and names have been updated since it was published, you might find it in a library.
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Good suggestion,I bought that book years ago.It was probably my first expensive book purchase but it was money well spent.
Agree great book, especially for photos of rare not normally found in the aquarium species.
I donated mine to the Milwaukee Aquarium Society library just before moving to Panama, so its there for all society members to use.
I donated mine to the Milwaukee Aquarium Society library just before moving to Panama, so its there for all society members to use.
How much does something like this usually retail for? I bought him for $8.99 and was told he was a young jewel cichlid at the time.
At my local fish store, that is an average price for any cichlid.
But large live Tilapia are often sold for a few dollars per pound in Asian food markets.
Then again It depends on where you go, and if you are looking for a rare species of Tilapine.
The last time I saw Iranocichla hormuzensus for sale, they were $100 each. But then again I believe I paid around $10 each for Alcolapia alcalicus from a breeder.
And at the low end I got a bag of "10" Oreochromis tangkanyikia juvies for $1 at one of my local fish club auctions. Its all knowing where to look. My local fish club, and regional cichlid club are always the best for me, I got to know breeders of rare species, and we would swap species as we bred them, or pay minimal prices for many, many that a LF store would charge 4-5 times for
But large live Tilapia are often sold for a few dollars per pound in Asian food markets.
Then again It depends on where you go, and if you are looking for a rare species of Tilapine.
The last time I saw Iranocichla hormuzensus for sale, they were $100 each. But then again I believe I paid around $10 each for Alcolapia alcalicus from a breeder.
And at the low end I got a bag of "10" Oreochromis tangkanyikia juvies for $1 at one of my local fish club auctions. Its all knowing where to look. My local fish club, and regional cichlid club are always the best for me, I got to know breeders of rare species, and we would swap species as we bred them, or pay minimal prices for many, many that a LF store would charge 4-5 times for
I wish I knew better places to look. Honestly I live in Alabama around the birmingham area. And we have such limited selection on rare/oddball species.
