Does anyone here have experience or know what the difference is between xiloaensis and citrinellum? I've read that the xilos can get big, and look to have the same colors as midas. They may eat different things though, as xilos eat a lot of snails. Pictures of your xilos would be nice. I'm especially interested in the xanthic ones. I know cichlidinsomniac asked about these a while back but I didn't see much info there.
Amphilophus xiloaenisis questions
- Thread starter darthodo
- Start date
jeff rapps told me they are almost identical to midas but they are more activedarthodo;2132199; said:
from what I've read they get a lot bigger than barred midas. I can't tell the difference from most of the barred amphilophus. Chancho, xiloaensis, saggitae, sp. "short" sp. "red isletas" and amarillo's are all very similar.
Yep www.tangledupincichlids.com has some pictures of the xiloaensis. At the ACA 2008 convention, Jeff had several small juvies for sale as well as a beautiful large, mostly-white male. I regretted not buying him as soon I left that day...
As far as appearance, they do look very similar. I've seen a "cat eye"-like appearance to the eyes in a few cases.
As far as appearance, they do look very similar. I've seen a "cat eye"-like appearance to the eyes in a few cases.
Camphilophus;2132406; said:
Actually, xiloaensis are considerably smaller than citranellus. My male seems to have stopped growing at a little less than ten inches. Chancho, on the other hand, is rumored to grow to as much as 18 inches in length. Here's a picture of my male when he was about seven inches:
Xilos are the smallest sized species of the Nicaraguan Amphilophus complex.
They are endemic to Lake Xiloa, a crator lake in Nicaragua.
They max out around 7" in the wild. I've raised some wild adults to about 8.5" size under aquarium conditions, but that's as large as I've seen them.
The barred form of xiloaensis is far more common in the wild. There is a photo of a wild adult barred male below with large nuchal hump.
The xanthic or colored race that I am working with is indeed an uncommon sight in their native Lake Xiloa.
The collector discovered a breeding pair of xanthic individuals in 80"+ of water. He collected a small number of the fry. Larger individuals do not survive the decompression from these depths to the surface. From prior experience, he's found that the fry do quite well with the decomp though.
It was these very fry that I imported and distributed as well as setting aside some as breeders. The F1 juveniles that I am offering now are from a gorgeous pair of white adults that have a little yellow/orange on fins and around eyes.
This species is very interactive with fish and people on the other side of it's glass walls!
They are endemic to Lake Xiloa, a crator lake in Nicaragua.
They max out around 7" in the wild. I've raised some wild adults to about 8.5" size under aquarium conditions, but that's as large as I've seen them.
The barred form of xiloaensis is far more common in the wild. There is a photo of a wild adult barred male below with large nuchal hump.
The xanthic or colored race that I am working with is indeed an uncommon sight in their native Lake Xiloa.
The collector discovered a breeding pair of xanthic individuals in 80"+ of water. He collected a small number of the fry. Larger individuals do not survive the decompression from these depths to the surface. From prior experience, he's found that the fry do quite well with the decomp though.
It was these very fry that I imported and distributed as well as setting aside some as breeders. The F1 juveniles that I am offering now are from a gorgeous pair of white adults that have a little yellow/orange on fins and around eyes.
This species is very interactive with fish and people on the other side of it's glass walls!
Interesting thread..... Unfortunately, most of the knowledge regarding these fish is anecdotal rather than scientific.
According to the preeminent researchers on the subject (Stauffer and McKaye) these are the sizes of a representative sampling in their study "The Midas Cichlid Complex in Two Nicaraguan Crater Lakes:"
(standard lengths listed; add another 10-12 cm for tail lengths)
A. amarillo 107.6-154.5 cm
A. xiloaensis 124.4-170-5 cm
A. sagittae 121.2-163.1 cm
A. zaliosus 110-124 cm
A. labiatus 129.4-140.6
A. citrinellus 130.2-139.5
Of course, there they didn't go cherry pick the fish in any way, but they do feel their sample to be representative of the species. Note how much smaller these fish are (again, on average) than what we see in aquariums. I've had all but one of those species exceed a foot in length in the aquarium (and the other one is well on its way). Still, you just won't see a bunch of fat, 14" Midas cichlids, with softball sized humps swimming around Nicaraguan lakes too often!
The point isn't how big or small the fish are. Most of us know they all get much larger than indicated...... The point is the high degree of similarity in size.
According to the preeminent researchers on the subject (Stauffer and McKaye) these are the sizes of a representative sampling in their study "The Midas Cichlid Complex in Two Nicaraguan Crater Lakes:"
(standard lengths listed; add another 10-12 cm for tail lengths)
A. amarillo 107.6-154.5 cm
A. xiloaensis 124.4-170-5 cm
A. sagittae 121.2-163.1 cm
A. zaliosus 110-124 cm
A. labiatus 129.4-140.6
A. citrinellus 130.2-139.5
Of course, there they didn't go cherry pick the fish in any way, but they do feel their sample to be representative of the species. Note how much smaller these fish are (again, on average) than what we see in aquariums. I've had all but one of those species exceed a foot in length in the aquarium (and the other one is well on its way). Still, you just won't see a bunch of fat, 14" Midas cichlids, with softball sized humps swimming around Nicaraguan lakes too often!
The point isn't how big or small the fish are. Most of us know they all get much larger than indicated...... The point is the high degree of similarity in size.