is Paratilapia bleekeri New World or African?

[Experiment397]

hey just wondering is the Paratilapia bleekeri new world or african? i want to get one for my 125 biotope i am setting up, but am not sure if it is african or new world. my tank is new world.

 

[Sab_Fan]

African cichlid, from Madagascar . . . I seem them, and the similar p. polleni cichlids, in the LFS from time to time

from what I've read and seen, it looks they are fairly adaptable, but they do get big, about 10-12" . . . I've considered getting one myself, but the potential size has always been an issue

 

[NorCaliCichlids]

West Africa, Madagascar. Bleekeri and Polleni both get big but IME the Bleekeri (aka Polleni sp. big spot) are pretty aggressive and hardy fish. Beautiful adults. Polleni sp. Small Spot IME are not as aggressive but get as big. Bleekeri can hang with a variety of central americans but not the big bruisers. This is my experience working with larger specimens.

 

[dookie]

They are not considered "New world". New world usually refers to Central american cichlids. Madagascar is part of africa so I would call them "Old world".

 

[FishingOut]

Looks CA but def African. I know rapps got some winners.

 

[darth pike]

Niether, bleekeri doesn't exist anymore.

Polleni are from africa, but they aren't a rift lake species as everyone mentioned above. For some reason, only the rift lake species are thought of as "african cichlids" while those from west africa and east africa (non rift lake) are known as "westies" (some lump the madagascar species in with them as well, but as they get more popular they are being grouped by themselves more often).