Midas or red devil? I'm saying devil.

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Stunning English. Let me know when you make it to 4th grade.


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Every month we get this question. I agree with the others in that there's a 99.9% chance this fish isn't a pure form of either species. As for simply looking at it and saying it's a Red Devil (or Midas for that matter), is absolute hogwash. Even looking at a juvenile specimen of a pure Labiatus or Citrinellus would be extremely difficult to label with certainty. The conundrum with the modern day "midevil" is that each individual grows up displaying different traits. Some look more like a Midas, some look more like a RD and some are an odd mixture of both. Main point, unless it was sold/given to you from a genuine source, it's a mongrel in the fish hobby.

This

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He's not a beagle. He's a champion pure bred English Creme Brindle Dachshund. And here's the definition for the word mongrel in case you need some schooling.

Mongrel: "An individual resulting from the interbreeding of diverse breeds or strains.

As I noted above, the word mongrel was and is used to reference an animal of mixed breeds, not a name that is used to criticize one. However, if you feel you must try to get back at me by incorrectly and ignorantly insulting my dog, I'm cool with that. Just try to be cognizant that we are on a fish keeping forum. And FYI, a mutt is a synonym for mongrel. That being said, your comment from above "He might be a mutt, but the only mongrel is that ugly flea bitten wannabe beagle dog in manu8 picture". This makes no sense, and clearly highlights your lack of a competent response in a matter in which you're obviously clueless.

The fish below was a MiDevil that I kept last year. In other words, he was a mongrel. He was one of the coolest fish I've ever owned. Something to think about before making a smart *** response.



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I didn't mean for the thread to turn into this. I was just joking.

I miss seeing pictures of that fish.


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I didn't mean for the thread to turn into this. I was just joking.

I miss seeing pictures of that fish.


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No worries, Ehh. Unfortunately, there are always a few bad apples out there who are unreasonable and primitive in their thinking.

As for a MiDevil, I'm starting to get the itch again.........lol. I'd like to grow out another one, but want to hold on to the Syn a bit longer. Your Amph is looking awesome! Can't wait to see some pics with the new DSLR.


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[h=2]I just joined yesterday. This thread really put me off.
This was posted 4 years ago and it was pinned at the top of the S.A./C.A. Cichlid forum
I suggest you read it and then apologize to Manu-8.
Your fish is a mongrel. They're now finding that even some F-1's are crosses. Your response to his polite information and apologies was ignorant and malicious. Grow up.


Please read before asking if you have a Midas or Red Devil[/h]
There have been a lot of threads lately from people asking if their fish is a Midas (Amphilophus citrinellum) or Red Devil (Amphilophus labiatum). A lot of these threads have pics of juvenile or sub adult fish. Trying to determine the identity of an adult fish is difficult enough, but these fish as juveniles look very similar to one another.

Here's the problem with these questions. It is impossible to simply eyeball a fully grown adult fish and determine 100% if it's A. labiatum or A. citrinellum. For far too many years, these two species have been crossed by breeders and farms all over the world. Some of these people may not have known the difference between the two while others simply may not have cared.

Either way, the fish commonly found in lfs and chain stores are most likely going to be hybrids of the two species. I don't recall who it was but someone on this site coined the term 'Midevil" for these fish and it's starting to stick. That's essentially how any "Red Devil" or "Midas" purchases from an lfs should be treated...as a hybrid of the two.

Add to the above the fact that other species of the Red Devil complex (such as A. xiloaensis, A. sagittae etc) are becoming more available, there's no telling how much more hybridization will occur with these closely-related species. We may eventually have to start calling them Midexiloittae.

The only way to know for sure is to get your fish from a reputable source. There are many reputable sources around such as Cichlid Connection, Jeff Rapps, Don Conkel, Ken Davis and I'm sure many others.

If you simply would like to know which yours more closely resembles, then here are some of the known characteristics.

A. citrinellum is typically going to be proportionally taller-bodied and a thicker, stockier fish. Midas will have a shorter snout with lips that (when viewed from above) will have more of a U shape. Midas are also likely to grow a larger nuchal hump.

A. labiatum is typically going to be a proportionally longer fish than it is tall. Red devils are a more stream-lined fish that doesn't quite attain the bulk that a Midas does. The lips, when viewed from above, are going to be more of a V-shape and the snout is a little longer than a midas. Wild fish typically have enlarged lips due to their specialized feeding habits. This usually goes away in captivity.

A. sagittae is, as far as I know, very similar to A. labiatum in that it is a longer bodied fish that does not get quite as bulky. A. sagittae is more of an open-water predator.

A. xiloaensis is, as far as I know, more closely related to Midas in that they are a bulkier, taller-bodied fish.​
 
^lol in pretty sure no one reads that sticky. Especially because on a cell phone you have to open ups the "sticky" tab to see them.

I usually tell people that if you have to ask, its likely it's a cross.


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This is my Wild Caught Red Devil.... I can only call it officially a Red Devil because its traced back to a reputable source.

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