Is this a young chocolate cicihld ?

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jake37

Piranha
MFK Member
Mar 6, 2021
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Per subject - i purchased 4 chocolate cichild and normally all 4 look the same (they are around 3 inches now) but every now and then one puts on a big display and chances the pattern to look like this (it is not a great picture since i can't get too close - the aquarium is 10 foot long):

cc.jpg

In normal mood it has two dots one where the dorsal fin connects to the body and one in the center like the other 3. It also at times shows strong pink in the dorsal fins. At first i thought it was courting behavior though they seem awful young to be showing either aggression or courting behavior so i'm not sure what is happening. The eyes look identifical to the other 3.
 
My guess is dominant since it approaches the other and 'flirts' with it. I just can't find any pictures of a chocolate cichild (h. temporalis) with similar markings. Also i don't know if age makes a different in basic markings of the fish - these were sold from a reliable dealer as wc rio itaya; but of course it is always possible if there is a similar but different species it could have been mixed in.
 
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jake37 said:
My guess is dominant since it approaches the other and 'flirts' with it. I just can't find any pictures of a chocolate cichild (h. temporalis) with similar markings. Also i don't know if age makes a different in basic markings of the fish - these were sold from a reliable dealer as wc rio itaya; but of course it is always possible if there is a similar but different species it could have been mixed in.
Click to expand...
I took another good look at the pic and the pattern looks like that of a true parrot cichlid juvenile but the mouth is throwing me off.
 
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Yes - the seller does sell both species (wc); but i'm not sure - most of the time it has the same grey colour as the other 3 fishes and so it is hard to get a good picture since when it turns grey i can't distingish it from the other 3 - i'll try to keep my eyes open and get more pictures. Even worse i can't find pictures of young fishes and various markings to distinguish between them.
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One other thing is that it doesn't seem to have the eyes of a parrot (coluring).
 
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tlindsey said:
I took another good look at the pic and the pattern looks like that of a true parrot cichlid juvenile but the mouth is throwing me off.
Click to expand...
Do you know the key difference between young chocolate fish and young true parrot fish? Are they both grey with pink tint in dorsal fin ?

Here is another one:
ccc.jpg
 
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IMO it’s Hypselecara. While there are a lot of physical similarities between Hypselecara and Hoplarchus (large eyes, big head, deep-set mouth), the Hypselecara tend to be a bit taller and pointier at the snout, with taller dorsal spines. I’ve always felt Hoplarchus were more elongated and streamlined.

You can also see in these photos that in stress coloration, the Hypselecara has triangular-shaped patches of light color along the body under the dorsal, where on Hoplarchus it’s more rectangular or circular.

I could be wrong; more clear photos or a video might help.

Hypselecara:
IMG_4207.jpegIMG_4208.jpegIMG_4209.jpeg

Hoplarchus:
IMG_4210.jpegIMG_4212.jpeg
 
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Ok thanks. One thing i don't understand is both you and the seller said this is distress pattern; but the fish only turns this pattern when it is being the aggressor - when i say aggressor it turns this colour then circles or swims at (but does not touch) another fish and then it leaves and revert to normal colouring. I at first took it as playing flirtatous or similar. It certainly doesn't behave in a submissive fashion.
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If your 2nd picture is chocolate then the serated dorsal fin certainly matches.
 
Agree with the others that it’s a chocolate but it sure does look like a juvie parrot. They are known to change colors and patterns quite a bit. Here’s a good thread: Chocolate

I believe there’s a pic or two in that thread showing a chocolate with a similar barred pattern
 
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