Herichthys carpintis identification, please

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monster187

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 8, 2009
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United States
I picked this one up a couple weeks ago from my LFS. Fish was sold and labeled " Green texas." Owner of store dosesnt have any other info on fish regarding history. Although hybrids may be fun to look at, I'm not too fond of them when it comes to keeping the texas cichlid in general. Proper identification would greatly be appreciated.. Male or female?? Please help. Any thoughts?





 
Thanks for the response guys. I also suspected he could be male.. But you can clearly see that he is definitely not you typical regular green texas. My guess is an Escondido or Vontilello hybrid of some sort. I picked him up in hopes that he would be pure species, but I do understand that any fish purchased without proper identification or proof (unless from a reliable source.) Cannot be truly labeled pure species.. Especially when dealing with the texas type cichlid, or midas/red devil species.
 
The names Escondido, and for example Chairell, are location varients, so the combination of the 2 does not make a hybrid, they are both carpintus. The names are simply 2 lagoons, streams, or pueblos, anywhere from 2 to 20 miles or so away from the other. Slight color or marking differences may be noticed from 1 place to the other, but these are often very obscure and vary from one individual to to the other.
The location names are often used to note the purity of a species, by breeders that acquire wild caught or F1 varieties, not to be compared to an aquarium strain that may be a cross between carpintus and cyanoguttatus at some time in the past. If you buy a LFS variety, you cannot assume a location, or for that matter in truth, see the difference. If you buy one without a location attached, it is/may be simply carpintus.
And with all the crossing these days, without a loc attached it is getting nearly impossible to know unless you get it from a reliable source.
Below is a carpintus from location Chairel in fry rearing color.
 
Interesting comparison, and great info.. Image provided does look somewhat similar to above fish. The spangling on the LFS texas does however remind me a lot of "Rapps" Escondido. I've seen another variant of Escondido which exhibits smaller, spot like pearls. Anyhow, I like this fish. I think I will be keeping him for a while.. and possible finding a potential mate soon. Thanks everyone.
 
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