Chetumalensis or Cutteri

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NW Cichlid Keith

NW Cichlid Keith

Dovii
MFK Member
Jun 6, 2016
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Atlanta, Georgia
I was sold a group of fish from a lfs reported to be Chetumalensis. I think they may be Cutteri, at least the males. They bred in a 20 early, and then I lost a few. Now I only have a female (first pic) that has not bred, but is showing behavior that implies she is a female. She's been in large aggressive tanks, which may explain why she has not bred. The next is one of the two males. They are both a full 6" TL (another reason I think it may not be a Chet) and they usually look like this, but occasionally show the same color pattern the female has. What do you think I have?

Chet Female.JPG

Chet Male.JPG
 
Here are some cutteri to compare, I've never owned chetumals so I leave that for someone else to post.
male in normal coloration.

pair in spawning colors

male in spawning color

female
 
Thanks - is the red tail normal when not breeding? I ask as their coloration changes often, but they have never had a red tail. I have Honduran Red Points that are mostly blue, but there is one make that is more silver than blue and he has a red tail. And I'm sure about him, as he came from Rapps. I seem to recall them looking like the spawning colors when I first got them and they bred in 20 gallon, but it has been a long time - they have not looked like your spawning fish in a long time.

Beautiful fish, btw
 

The red in the tail may be just the way the light hit the background, the orange rock behind the fish.
You have very white substrate, and the color of substrate often influences how a fishes color shows up. Many times with white substrate, the colors wash out as an innate defense mechanism, which allows the fish to blend in with its environment.
 
NW Cichlid Keith said:
I was sold a group of fish from a lfs reported to be Chetumalensis. I think they may be Cutteri, at least the males. They bred in a 20 early, and then I lost a few. Now I only have a female (first pic) that has not bred, but is showing behavior that implies she is a female. She's been in large aggressive tanks, which may explain why she has not bred. The next is one of the two males. They are both a full 6" TL (another reason I think it may not be a Chet) and they usually look like this, but occasionally show the same color pattern the female has. What do you think I have?

View attachment 1187175

View attachment 1187176
Click to expand...
They look like chetamelensis to me due to the amount of red in the fins.
 
Definitely chetumalensis, and huge ones at that. No cutteri locale has red on the body. The red on the fins of male cutteri is more of a maroon as opposed to an orangey. Most cryptoheros/amatitlania get significantly bigger than what is generally understood. Do you still have them/fry available?
 
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