Black belt ID please

[Monstercam]

Hi everyone,
Here is a pic of my 8" black belt. Do you think it is a pure black belt or a hybrid? If so Male or Female do you think?
Thanks

 

[Gourami Swami]

Impossible to say for certain without knowing the lineage, but it looks like a pure maculicauda to me. Looks male as well.

 

[mr cichlid]

I say amazing female either pure breed, line bred or many generations removed from hybrid. If i didnt have to buy a hundred black belts from different distributors to land true beauty I'd always own them. See video. Seldom seen but my favorite veija when brightly colored.
Try and spawn?

 

[Monstercam]

I say amazing female either pure breed, line bred or many generations removed from hybrid. If i didnt have to buy a hundred black belts from different distributors to land true beauty I'd always own them. See video. Seldom seen but my favorite veija when brightly colored.
Try and spawn?

Thanks
Do you think that it may be showing so much color as a breeding dress? I do have it in an all male american cichlid tank, possibly her as an exception.
I was leaning towards female also due to body shape, growth rate and temperament more than anything. I have a Male fenestratus cichlid which is pretty close in age to the black belt and the fen is closer to 9-10" and starting to grow a fairly decent nuchal hump. I do have a 75 gallon free as a possible breeder but finding a male might be the hardest part. I'm guessing I will have to vent before going to the effort of finding a partner.

 

[Monstercam]

Here is a more side on pic. It just seems to have a more of a synspilum style red face don't you think but obviously has the black belt.

 

[mr cichlid]

I keep the blue fenistratus, argentia and synspilian because vieja are in my top five. I'd trade them all for an amazing black belt pair. I realize the fry are a dime a dozen so it would solely be for my viewing enjoyment. Where am i going with this? Why hybridnize when you stumble a classic beauty. Everywhere around the planet people striving for best flowerhorn. The question is do you like old muscle cars or rice burners. Both fun to drive but only have one garage, right? If you spawn it, I'd like fry and have plenty to trade, mashaAllaah

 

[kewpiefishypewpie]

Hi everyone,
Here is a pic of my 8" black belt. Do you think it is a pure black belt or a hybrid? If so Male or Female do you think?
Thanks

View attachment 1324451

What a ridiculously good looking black belt, my goodness.

 

[duanes]

The profile looks female to me too.
Although there is a chance, because it is housed in an all male tank, that its may be a comparatively subordinate individual compared to others, which could make a male display less than male dominance features.
If it is a female, I agree with Mr Cichlid, that allowing it to hybridize with another species would be a waste of good genes. Since it is a rather beautiful individual, hybridizing it would produce another group of un-identifyable mutt fry added to an already oversaturated plethora of (IMO) worthless no-name LFS pseudo cichlids.

 

[Beardogg85]

a lot more red on the head than mine. Very nice fish

 

[Gourami Swami]

WIth the new side pic, I would agree the profile looks female. It is a very nice one at that