Fish ID?

[Conner]

Hey, I bought these as "mystery" fish from my LFS. They thought they were port cichlids (black acara), but I'm pretty sure that's not what they are, due to a difference in the size of the spot, lack of horizontal bar along the sides, and the size of the black bar at the beginning of the caudal fin.

What do you guys think? My best guess is Yellow Acara.

Sorry for the crappy pics, I'll try to get better ones tonight when they're showing better colors. They're spot is very large, and extends from the midline all the way up to the dorsal fin. The tail spot is actually a bar that runs from the top of the caudal peduncle all the way to the bottom, unbroken.

 

[Loves severums]

yellow acara.

 

[peathenster]

Aequidens metae?

 

[Conner]

Aequidens metae?

That's what yellow acara are .

 

[Snowflake311]

Looks like a aequidens diadema maybe.

 

[Conner]

Looks like a aequidens diadema maybe.

I thought about that, but my two are completely lacking the bold stripe along the side that diadema have. I'm pretty sure its the metae, just wanted some second opinions.

 

[Snowflake311]

That stripe comes and goes with the mood. Much like most acaras my blue acara gets the backline when stressed. If the fish are not stressed the stripe will be gone. In the first photo his color is so rich much like a S.diadema. Also the spot looks like an upside down L and he has a spot at the base of the tail. I would not go only by the line because also as adults the line will be seen less and less. So it's a close one. Whatever one it is I thinks it's a good looking fish.

 

[Sab_Fan]

yellow acara.

+1 . . . that was my first thought . . . certainly don't look like ports

 

[wwcichlids]

I would say Metae as well

 

[darth pike]

That's what yellow acara are .

Actually, yellow acara is often used (and prior to metae) for Bujurquina vittita ... so using the species name is valid.

Black acaras are Cichlasoma bimaculatum, not the port cichlid btw.

Which is why I hate common names.

I'd lean towards metae as well, but would need a better shot of the marking on the gill plate. There are three acaras that look almost identical and are detemined by that marking. Metae are blue faced, diadema silver, and the undescribed one green.