Amphilophus islantus/islantum
- Thread starter Edward345
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The species is not a hybrid, it is a true species. Amphilophus is incorrect, I believe the current correct genus is nandopsis. Either way Istlanum is the species name.
They grow more slowly than some CA cichlids, and are pretty shy until about 6". They are incredibly aggressive, not very good community cichlids unless the tank is very large, or they are smaller than their tankmates. They will eventually reach about 12" for males, it will take some years to reach that max size though.
What is your goal in keeping them? If you want to breed them, I would get more like 5 of them as juveniles and grow them out to get a pair. 2 random individuals may not work out. You could try to spawn them through a divider, I know some people have lots of success with that method, with similarly nasty fish.
There are two forms, green and red. Coloration may also vary a bit based on catch locale.
Here is my old green
and a red morph grow-out
let me know any specific questions and I will try to help
They grow more slowly than some CA cichlids, and are pretty shy until about 6". They are incredibly aggressive, not very good community cichlids unless the tank is very large, or they are smaller than their tankmates. They will eventually reach about 12" for males, it will take some years to reach that max size though.
What is your goal in keeping them? If you want to breed them, I would get more like 5 of them as juveniles and grow them out to get a pair. 2 random individuals may not work out. You could try to spawn them through a divider, I know some people have lots of success with that method, with similarly nasty fish.
There are two forms, green and red. Coloration may also vary a bit based on catch locale.
Here is my old green
and a red morph grow-out
let me know any specific questions and I will try to help
Amphilophus istlanus is the correct name (Říčan et al. 2016:37 [ref. 34357]). Nandopsis was wrongly used and never made sense because it is reserved for the cichlids of the caribbean islands.
There are two main colour varieties. Yellow/red and blue/green. It depends whom you ask.
Blue variety:
Yellow variety:
There are two main colour varieties. Yellow/red and blue/green. It depends whom you ask.
Blue variety:
Yellow variety:
Since the genus Nandopsis is restricted to the only cichlids of the Caribbean islands (haitiensus, tetracanthus, ramsdeni), Nandopsis cannot be used, as istlanus is from the Pacific coast of Mexico.
The Cichlid Room Companion still lists it under Amphilophus, although another genus such as Mayaheros or Nosferatu is a possibility.
Its closelst relation is probably Mayaheros beanii, ...... but only DNA tested will be the judge
It is not normally considered a community species, and a pair may need minimum 6 ft tank to live peacefully, and that may be without any tank mates (especially "not" other cichlids)..
The Cichlid Room Companion still lists it under Amphilophus, although another genus such as Mayaheros or Nosferatu is a possibility.
Its closelst relation is probably Mayaheros beanii, ...... but only DNA tested will be the judge
It is not normally considered a community species, and a pair may need minimum 6 ft tank to live peacefully, and that may be without any tank mates (especially "not" other cichlids)..
Thanks for the correction
Milingu
, nomenclature has never been my specialty. After reading more of that paper, it also suggests that istlanum is likely a hybrid species formed from the lineage of Beani and Trimaculatus. Seems this is only a hypothesis at this point but is interesting.
I would agree with
duanes
that a 6 foot tank is probably necessary if you intend to have a non-divided pair, though I have not bred the species myself, only kept males solo or with other cichlids (larger, tough cichlids in a 6 foot tank).
Milingu
, nomenclature has never been my specialty. After reading more of that paper, it also suggests that istlanum is likely a hybrid species formed from the lineage of Beani and Trimaculatus. Seems this is only a hypothesis at this point but is interesting.I would agree with
duanes
that a 6 foot tank is probably necessary if you intend to have a non-divided pair, though I have not bred the species myself, only kept males solo or with other cichlids (larger, tough cichlids in a 6 foot tank).
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