Carpintas Escondido??

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I appreciate the info mate. So the only truly accurate way to tell what is what is by DNA testing I guess, right?
 
I appreciate the info mate. So the only truly accurate way to tell what is what is by DNA testing I guess, right?
Buy from proven vendors with great reputations. Thought lately the most trusted have shut down operations. Tangled up in cichlids, Cichlids of the Americas were two of the best vendors out there. Highly trustworthy as they imported the fish directly from the guys who caught them from the wild. I am not sure who is left as a trustworthy source save The Wet Spot tropical fish. The thing with the Wet Spot is it don't always have on hand some of the "Monsters" we love. I have been out of the hobby for a couple years now and not sure who besides the Wet Spot are the trusted sources.
 
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My C. Escondido was 9+” and approx 7 yrs old when he was killed by his long term mate, the she devil. No real nuchal hump to speak of. He was F2 from an old Rapps import.

FYI…… the pics that Dan posted appear to be Asian bred, probably line bred, maybe crossed, who knows? Asian breeders use the large hump males in their various breeding programs, such as Red Texas.
 
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My C. Escondido was 9+” and approx 7 yrs old when he was killed by his long term mate, the she devil. No real nuchal hump to speak of. He was F2 from an old Rapps import.

FYI…… the pics that Dan posted appear to be Asian bred, probably line bred, maybe crossed, who knows? Asian breeders use the large hump males in their various breeding programs, such as Red Texas.
@RD thanks for the reply mate. I agree with your thoughts about the initial pics I posted. I thought the same thing, that whilst the color & pattern appear to similar to the C. Escondido, the body shape & nuchal hump looks very similar to a Thai Silk & other FH strains. My preference is pure strain CA cichlids for sure.
 
Just because a LFS lists a cichlid as one variant or the other does not not mean it is true, especially if that LFS listing is based on color alone.
The only way to know is if the collectors actually went to that point, be it Chairel, or Rio Hondo, etc etc..
As aquarists we are sometimes duped into collection points because it "sounds" exotic.
Or worse yet, sold illegitimate species, that are actually mutts (especially these days, with everybody and the inlaws trying to produce the next, FH or Pickachoo, with a big Cock.
One of the reasons why I moved to Panama, to collect my own true species, and if I say, it was cought in the Rio Mamoni, it actually was.
Then again.....I never sell them....
 
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An example just for reference
The Andinoacara coeruleopunctatus below was caught in the Rio Pacora
IMG_5624.jpeg
This same represenative of A coeruleopunctatus was cought in the Rio Mamoni
IMG_2391.jpeg
Whether or not it matters, I have kept them separate.
 
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I wonder if there’s anyone here on MFK that has H. Carpintis Escondido progeny from stock collected or distributed by TUIC or COTA 🤔
 
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I kept Escondido from CotA ion the past
I have seen them with nuchal humps before, but not as large as the ones in the original post. I would think these have been crossed

Agreed. Looking at some old pics of my male, he did have a nuchal hump, just nothing like the males that Dan posted. I’ve seen a LOT of males of that variant over the years, on MFK, and in person, but never with massive nuchal humps.
 
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I have kept Green Texas several times, but never grown them all the way out to True adult size. A friend of mine sent me this picture today of a pair with a massive nuchal hump.
Do Green Texas get a nuchal hump naturally or are these hybridized or perhaps even just line bred?
Cheers 🍻
View attachment 1562154
I've kept them before. The ones in your picture look more like a hybrid type, maybe flowerhorn. Some males get a slight hump but nothing compared to your buddy's.
 
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