Cichlid identification
- Thread starter Jacob._.merc
- Start date
Yeah the colors seem like the scianochromis. It probably is a hybrid
I attended a talk by a collector of Aulonacara who goes yearly to bring back fresh stock from Africa, and he explained that unless he knew catch location, it might be impossible for him to correctly ID many of the genus one from another, and impossible to tell females apart at all.
and because some cichlids have been transplanted outside their normal ranges, hybridization is muddying the waters even more.
and because some cichlids have been transplanted outside their normal ranges, hybridization is muddying the waters even more.
I just went to the Cichlid Room Companion web site, and checked out Aulonocara, Sciaenochromis and Copadichromis lists of recognized species, and variants.
There were at least 45 species of Aulonocara (many looking quite similar), and over 15 species in Sciaenochromis some hard to tell apart, now add the over 50 species of similar shaped, blue Copadichromis, and you are looking to find a needle in a haystack.
There were at least 45 species of Aulonocara (many looking quite similar), and over 15 species in Sciaenochromis some hard to tell apart, now add the over 50 species of similar shaped, blue Copadichromis, and you are looking to find a needle in a haystack.
There are only 4 species within the Sciaenochromis genus, and only 1 that is commonly exported. (fryeri) The only real confusion in that genus is why the name S. ahli is not used, as S. fryeri came much later. More about that in the following past thread.
Sciaenochromis ahli vs fryeri
Hey guys! As a kid growing up my favorite African Cichlid was an Electric Blue. Recently I discovered there were two different a kinds. Can anyone tell me the difference between the 2?
www.monsterfishkeepers.com
With regards to the Aulonocara genus, while collection points can certainly be near impossible to identify, many of the species are easy enough to differentiate between, to a trained eye. My friend who worked at Lake Malawi for the late Stuart Grant told me that the natives can typically tell the females apart as well. I guess after bagging several thousand fish you begin noticing the subtle differences.
If a store went to the trouble and expense to import a rare species, I suspect that it would have been properly marked.
S. fryeri are easy; fryeri hybrids, which are common, often also easy to spot. Random hybrid intrusions generations back might be trickier. If you've had a few C. mloto, most variations are pretty easy also-- same for certain other genera/species. Others not so much, like distinguishing some of the many different stuartgranti aulonocara, lol... but there's this guy:
I suspect it's the same guy we've mentioned before, can't recall when he was ever stumped, usually including location and pointing out hybrids.
Looking again at the photo: fryeri blaze, fryeri dorsal fin, kind of a fryeri anal fin-- some giveaways for not pure fryeri are the wrong mouth, wrong head shape, and body. Fryeri mouth, head, and usually the body, resembles some of the predator haps, something like a smaller cousin to a B. lepturus.
I am going back to the store soon. I will see if I see anymore there and see what they have them labeled as.
