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Being a mod on a cyphotilapia site, imo Moba and Mikula are currently most sought after by people with the money to spend, Moba as the most recognizable name and Mikula have a reputation for being high quality (not that Moba or other Zaires can't be equally high quality, but it depends on the particular fish). Mpimbwes remain popular, also-- not as expensive, reputation as easier to breed than Zaires, reputation as more outgoing typically than Zaires (although this will actually vary with individual fish and setup).

Moba are not really from Moba, but have been collected from different places. Moba itself is not really cyphotilapia habitat, being a sandy beach and not deep, rocky, etc., where you would find fronts, but they were called Moba by the original collector to throw other collectors off where they originally found them. So "Moba" is more a popular name than a single specific location ID.
 
thanks for that explanation....did not know the pecking order so to speak......
Pretty much any of the Zaires are considered a high status fish, but some are more well known than others and therefore more sought after. Certainly true of moba, popular because people know the name, which carries a status based partly on the big splash moba made when first introduced into the hobby a few years ago. Pretty much all Zaires are nice, but like most Zaires, some moba are nicer than others. Mikula are not nearly as common in the hobby, haven't been around as long for one thing, but most that have been imported are really high quality, which has given them their own reputation.

Used to be the 'big three' Zaires were Moba, Kitumba (originally known for being purple as much as blue, though this actually varies among them and other Zaires), and Kapampa, the original Zaire by most accounts. Hard to find real Kapampa anymore, they're haven't been collected for some time according to some inside sources I trust, the cyphotilapia at Kapampa are more difficult and expensive to find and collect. Occasionally fish are imported and labeled "Kapampa", but to get Kapampa actually from Kapampa you basically have to find a group that was imported years ago (or offspring of some of the original imports, which is what I have). In the past two or three years, Kitumba don't seem to be imported very often either.
 
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