What is the main differences between a male Mel. Johanni and a Mel. Cyaneorhabdos? I heard that male Johanni's turn almost black w/ blue horizontal stripes when mature...
Johanni & cyaneorhabdos differences
- Thread starter meanbestorque
- Start date
there is not a real difference in looks of the males i mean you have got to be a biologist to really tell only way to know is buy from a very reputable breeder.
colinrobinson;2852546; said:
I agree about the breeder ...I disagree on how difficult it is to differentiate between the two.
Take these two classic descriptions
Melanochromis Johannii
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=760
Melanochromis Cyaneorhabdos (formerly Maingano)
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=756
Can you see any differences between the two?!? Any "obvious" differences? Morphologically they are the same torpedo shaped Mbunas, but there are slight differences in the male coloration. Females, at least for Johannii are completely yellow
... that's the easy part.Here's what I am talking about
Melanochromis Johanii
Melanochromis Cyaneorhabdos
Face: pretty similar between the two
Stripes: Solid color for Cyaneorhabdos, both in light blue and dark blue stripes. One can see the Johannii is not as consistent (first dark stripe next to the dorsal fin, or the belly dark stripe that intertwines with the lighter one).
Dorsal fin: darker, more solid stripe for Cyaneorhabdos.
In my opinion it's best to acquire either of these two species as small (paper-clip sized) juvies. Coloration at that size should help denote which is which. I see these fish mislabeled all the time.
Slight pattern variation among adult species can blur the line a bit (not to mention hybridization, what would the offspring of m. cyaneorhabdos and m. johanni look like, or even worse, the hybrid of those species bred back to one of the parent species).
Slight pattern variation among adult species can blur the line a bit (not to mention hybridization, what would the offspring of m. cyaneorhabdos and m. johanni look like, or even worse, the hybrid of those species bred back to one of the parent species).
kay-bee;2903416; said:
Agreed. Unless the source is reliable, or unless one really has no doubt about the specie, that's pretty much the case for all unknown (assorted) cichlid tanks in retail.