ID Request for 5 fishes

[Yaponchik]

Hello experts,

I'm new to the Rift Lake Cichlid section, and would appreciate your expertise in IDing

I had these fishes for quite some time now, but the initial batch I got (4 pcs) were sold as CB "Blue Zaire Moba"

As time passed and I got more educated, I realized that they were probably misidentified (The seller is a well respected in my country - although no one is perfect and everyone is prone to make errors from time to time)

My understanding of C. Gibberosa in general is - they have the mask vertically over their eye, which may or may not extend further down the gill plate (or in some cases, extend up until the jaw line) - and my fish definitely do not have this characteristic, but I bought one that has.

In the set of pictures below, you will notice a fish that has a horizontal band, and 4 with verticals. I would like to respectfully request an identification for all.

Your help is highly appreciated.

 

[kno4te]

neutrino

 

[Yaponchik]

neutrino

Kno4te, thank you, as always!

 

[neutrino]

C. gibberosa have a mask that varies according to region, Zaire/Congo have a sort of checkerboard pattern that varies in definition and Tanzanians have more of a "Zorro mask" over the eyes. Zaires will also often have a horizontal black mark between the eyes, so don't let that confuse you. Link to photos. The eye bar on gibberosa can vary, not only by individual but also by mood. May extend well below the eye or not much at all. In some moods some of them will become dark overall in the face.

C. frontosa-- the northern species in the lake, often called "Burundi", though their region extends beyond Burundi-- have a generally solid eye bar, that in some older individuals with big humps can be broken up. C. frontosa includes 7 barred locations, primarily Kigoma, and any fish some call "species north", essentially a name some invented for 6 bar C. frontosa because they thought 7 barred frontosa would become a third species-- never happened and 'species north' is not a scientifically valid name.

All of that said, it's hard to be certain of those in your photos. At first glance they look 'Burundi', especially in color. but one or two potentially have the horizontal line of Zaire I described above. One or two look a lot more like a Burundi eye bar at this point. A Zaire mask can take time to develop. True Zaire are already typically much more blue, even at small sizes.

...Not the most definitive answer, it's possible they're a mix or hybrids, it's possible they're just in a faded mood in the photos-- do they look like that all the time? You may need to let them grow some to be more sure what they are.

 

[Milingu]

The easiest way to identify true blue zaire is the line between the gill plates.

Let them grow for may be 6 more month and look for the blue or black line.

No line = no blue zaire.