Help please! ID and Advice

[marvinbaker]

got a horrible pet shop nearby who know absolutely nothing about fish and had this 4" fish in a 3ft tank with about 20 dyed parrotfish, 20 african malawi's and a scary oscar/severum hybrid and so rescued the little bugger for ten quid just to get it out of the tank! assumed it was a chocolate cichlid (shopkeeper told me it could be anything as cichlids are all mongrel fish, could've hit him!) but can someone confirm that for me and if you have any experience with them some advice please as kept many new world cichlids but never one of these.

 

[Ophiuchus]

Actually, justing looking at the shape and form, I'd say it may be another oscar/severum hybrid. Don't know for sure; not like I've ever seen one before, but it does look like it has some oscar and some severum in it. Just my opinion.....I don't think its a chocolate though.

 

[M|L]

it's a chocolate cichlid, Hypselecara temporalis.

 

[Oddball]

Actually, justing looking at the shape and form, I'd say it may be another oscar/severum hybrid. Don't know for sure; not like I've ever seen one before, but it does look like it has some oscar and some severum in it. Just my opinion.....I don't think its a chocolate though.

There is alot of talk about there being oscar/severum hybrids on alot of sites. However, no one can seem to pinpoint where these are and/or who has them. So far, these hybrids are more Urban Legend than reality.


BTW, awesome chocolate cichlid specimen (not a mutt). That's a great pickup that's getting hard to find lately.

 

[Red Devil]

very pretty fish..and glad you saved it.

 

[The TRUST]

it's a chocolate cichlid, Hypselecara temporalis.

Doesn't look like a pure one to me.