help with fish identification please

[joehanney]

Hi,
First up I'm not sure if I am posting in the right place, so sorry if I'm not.
I bought two of these fish a few weeks back -

They was labelled as Firemounths which I accepted until today when I saw some other fish labelled as Firemouths and they looked nothing alike. So I need the vast wisdom of MFK to identify them.

Thanks in advance.

Joe

Oh and just for the hell of it here is my best bud Troy

 

[oscarcrazy]

some type of vieja

 

[joehanney]

Never heard of that, I'm new to cichlids.
Do they have a common name

 

[crenipterus svenagalus]

Some Viejas have common names, but not all. I agree, some sort of Vieja. It's gonna get a bit bigger than a FM. Probably be much prettier too...

 

[jgentry]

Looks a lot like a young bocourti to me. Lots of CA cichlids look similiar to that when young though.

 

[Red Devil]

beautiful dog.

 

[Jason_S]

i agree it's most likely a vieja or paratheraps hybrid of some sort. my best guess would be a bifasciatus mix with....something.

 

[VRWC]

i agree it's most likely a vieja or paratheraps hybrid of some sort. my best guess would be a bifasciatus mix with....something.

paratheraps hybrid? between 2 partheraps? or with something else.

Could you give your explanation as to why you think its a hybrid please? I dont think at that size, its possible to assume that at all, given all the different phases they go through before reaching adulthood.

Looks like a young zonatus to me...although I havent seen one in a while and going by memory.

Thanks.

edit:Heres a zonatus pic...colorings a little different i guess, but who knows with lighting, water condition, enviro etc. Lines arent as clean on the OPs fish either I guess.

 

[Legomypleco]

with vieja its very hard to say at such a young age, and it very well could be a mix/hybrid of two species. so your best bet it to take more photos a couple months down the road and update this thread and see if the fine members of mfk can give you a better answer.

 

[Jason_S]

paratheraps hybrid? between 2 partheraps? or with something else.

Could you give your explanation as to why you think its a hybrid please? I dont think at that size, its possible to assume that at all, given all the different phases they go through before reaching adulthood.

Looks like a young zonatus to me...although I havent seen one in a while and going by memory.

Thanks.

edit:Heres a zonatus pic...colorings a little different i guess, but who knows with lighting, water condition, enviro etc. Lines arent as clean on the OPs fish either I guess.

I've got a 6" zonatus in my 125 right now and I got it at ~1.5-2". I assure you the fish in question is not a zonatus.

what bothers me about this fish is the color. It could just be the lighting or the angle of the pic, but it appears to be a much brighter lemon-y yellow than any paratheraps display at such a young age. and the way the color is spread out just looks unnatural.

besides, unfortunately, most paratheraps/vieja are in the same boat as midas/red devil...unless you know where it came from, it's most likely a mutt. not to say it won't grow to be a beautiful fish mind you.