ID please! D. Compressiceps?

[dg350z]

Hey all, I have had this fish for about 2 months now, its about 4.5" or so. The guy at my LFS told me it was a male Dimidiochromis compressiceps. I think that it is very likely that it is considering the egg-spots on the anal fin, as well as faint coloring on the top fin and some blue starting around the face.

In addition to an ID, I also have a question. Why is it that some of the pictures I see of male comp's have considerable black coloring on the anal and upper fins, yet others do not? (http://www.martin-ruffershoefer.de/FDB-Bilder/FDB - Dimidiochromis compressiceps DL.jpg for instance) I find the black to be very attractive, but I see no signs that this fish will develop that - or is it too early to tell? I ask because a different fish store now has a comp (about 6" in length) with lots of black showing.


Pics: (sorry they are from my phone and are not scaling correctly unless you click on them...)

Other one at fish store - notice the black lower fin.

 

[andy1985]

i think you are right. Males do colour up that way.

 

[dg350z]

So if it is indeed a comp, does anyone have any insight about why some have such pronounced black coloration while others do not? It seems like some sort of morph, yet I never seee comp's listed as any kind of specific type. If anyone owns one, can you tell me if they showed black coloration at about the same time as the other fin coloration, or does it come later?

 

[Pharaoh]

Could be a color morph or could be quality of the fish. Hard to say.

 

[tezr]

it also depends if it has a female to try to impress or if it is sub-dominate to other fish in your tank.

 

[navygirl76]

id say the compressiseps in the display tank is an alpha-dominant male. yours is a great specimen too. as far as fin coloration, youll notice there is great diversity even among same species of fish.. .its overwhelming how different two different specimens can look-esp in the mbuna world ..

im betting as time goes, if you got a few females for your guy he would color up and maybe display darker finnage...

 

[mikem2]

Firstly - that one in the shop is older/bigger and must be male alpha. With tine in good conditions yours will colour up. Normal thing with haps/predators.

 

[krichardson]

Has anyone ever seen the albino compressiceps?

 

[mike dunagan]

yes, I have seen several in the stores.

 

[mike dunagan]

Also the face of this fish does not look sloped enough. Have you looked at other d. species to compare?