Amphilophus pics - which one is Amarillo and which is Barred Midas?

[NW Cichlid Keith]

I got in some fish form Dan at Cichlids of the Americas and I'm wondering if two of them were mislabeled. I have only had Midas before, so am no expert. It is really tough to tell as most pics on the web are full grown or infants. The first pic below was an ordered 5" to 6" F1 Amarillo, and it came in just shy of 5". This fish has a much more higher sloping head - like a mature male, even though it is smaller. The second fish was an ordered 3.25" to 4" F1 Arenal barred Midas, and it came in at 5.5". This second fish seems to have more color - even more than in pic now - will get some more pics tonight. It also has more of a sloping head - kind of like a red devil. I ordered 12 of Dan's fish and they all came in at the upper end of his range on the price sheet, or a good bit bigger - except for the Amarillo, which again makes me think it may be miss-labeled. Note, the bag surrounding the bag the fish is in has the label, so I could see where there could be a mistake in packaging. Either way, I'm very happy w/ the fish - just want to be sure of which is which.

 

[cprings]

Few months back I got a amarillo from Dan and it was a bit on the smaller side for the size listed/ordered and looks just like your top pictures. I've had barred midas in the past as well (Big Head's progeny from Jeff). I would say the labeling was correct. #1 = amarillo #2 = midas. Hope this helps.

 

[NW Cichlid Keith]

Few months back I got a amarillo from Dan and it was a bit on the smaller side for the size listed/ordered and looks just like your top pictures. I've had barred midas in the past as well (Big Head's progeny from Jeff). I would say the labeling was correct. #1 = amarillo #2 = midas. Hope this helps.

Thanks - that helps. At what size did your barred midas start showing that strong forehead midas vs. red devil look?

 

[cprings]

It's tough to remember the exact size because it was about 12 years ago when I had that barred midas at that size but I would say around the 6-7" mark it started. Big Head's progeny were captive bred I believe in the Czech Republic so I'm sure there are some differences there. I have an F1 arenal creamsickle colored midas from Dan that I've had for about 1.5 years. He probably started to get a steeper head and more of a nuchal around the 6-7" mark as well. He's likely 9-10" right now and really getting tall and thick.