My initial understanding was that this was a unique fish found in particular waterways, and that it should not be mixed with other citrins as to prevent interbreeding. After speaking to several people that have collected in Nicaragua, I have been told that the fish is quite common, and it is a citrinellus. My initial question was to confirm my understanding. I have the fish and was planning on breeding it, but I already have barred cits that I breed. It is quite inexpensive to do a DNA and morphology test at the University of Florida Aquaculture facility over where I am at locally, but it appears as that the fish is a common citrinellus being marketed differently, kind of how Synspilum are sold as red headed cichlids, or quetzal cichlids, etc....
Lets see those Red isletas
- Thread starter jessetayisletas
- Start date
Now the good questions is what's up with those wild nics rapps brought in. The "red shoulders" I don't even remember what they were labeled as. What's the final verdict on those? I have one and I even know what to call it.
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It's the same fish as a citrinellum, ie red isletas, etc...just a different marketed name.
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These fish weren't priced any differently than citrinellus, just labelled as something else.
Most of the species in the midas complex have only very subtle differences appearance wise; is it 100% confirmed that "red isletas" is just citrinellus?
Not that I am aware of.
As you just stated, most of the fish found within the "midas" complex can have very subtle differences when it comes to appearance, and even within this genus (Amphilophus) and species (citrinellus) there is still much confusion and/or unknowns within the scientific community. In fact, most of the experts that have spent years studying these fish in their natural habitat, now agree that more "midas" species from the crater lakes will be described in the future and that the taxonomic validity of the original species A. citrinellus will need to be revisited. Some researchers now refer to the Midas cichlids found within this region as A. cf. citrinellus. You can read more about that in the following link, along with several links to recent work in this area, with this species.
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/f...f-citrinellus-A-potential-case-of-F1-Midevils
IMHO it's not quite as simple as stating this particular color variant is just another barred citrinellus, the reality is that it could in fact be a new species of Amphilophus. It is for this exact reason that when breeding any wild caught species it's always best to ensure that both parent fish come from the same body of water, and in some cases the exact same collection location within that body of water. Especially with this genus, and this part of the world.
Jeff posted some pics, and his explanation of the red shouldered specimens in the following thread.
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/f...88-Back-from-Nicaragua-with-some-amazing-fish
BTW ..... the Las Isletas location is also where the researchers in the following link collected 138 A. citrinellus for their study. (see figure 1) http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/365/1547/1763.full.pdf
I personally think that Jeff did a credible job describing those fish, and their collection location, without making any assumptions as others have done in this discussion.
