My Chocolate - Hypselecara coryphaenoides or H. temporalis??

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Burtess

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 10, 2006
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Ontario, Canada
I picked up a new chocolate cichlid (and an oscar), assuming that a chocolate was a Hypselecara temporalis. After further research it appears that the chocolate name is also used for Hypselecara coryphaenoides.

By looking at the descriptions of these two fish, I think mine looks more like H. coryphaenoides.

Could anyone with experience with these fish comment??

Thanks!
Burt:)

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I have had to put a divider in as the chocolate was beating on the oscar, have to let the O get a bit ahead in growth before they are together again...
 
Looks like a standard H. temporalis. Looks much like mine though in much nicer condition. If my memory serves me correctly, H. coryphaenoides is the Rio Chocolate that has a slightly different body shape. It's a rare fish in the hobby so congratulations if you actually do have the coryphaenoides, but your Chocolate has a very similiar body shape to mine, and I would find it very hard to believe the rare version is available in Australia. Chocolates body shape will change dramatically as they reach the 7-8" mark, especially if it's a male.

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Rescue buy Day 1.

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This was a week ago, I've had him for almost a fortnight now. Second photo was taken only 6 days after purchase.

Beautiful fish though, great pickup! Best of luck with him.
 
Thanks, yours looks like it is doing great in your care!

Thats the thing, I see pics of temporalis online with the more rounded face and mine at about 3" has a sharper face. The pics online are of much larger male individuals though, and this may be tricking me.

Burt:)
 
Burtess;1497896; said:
Thats the thing, I see pics of temporalis online with the more rounded face and mine at about 3" has a sharper face. The pics online are of much larger male individuals though, and this may be tricking me.

Yeah that's it. Is yours around 3-4", looks about the same as mine. It's much like Severums (A fellow 'Heroine') if you're familiar with their shape as they grow up. At around the 7" mark they also develop much broader foreheads and become less sleeker than they were as juveniles.

Either way it's a great purchase. Perhaps time will prove otherwise, but to me that's a beautiful H. temporalis.

Congratulations on the pick up.
 
Thats a Temporalis.

Here is a pic of mine at about 5". She's(I think it's a female) pushing 6" now.

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Temporalis. The sev comparison japes made is spot on. They begin to round out at about double the size yours is now. Beautiful fish, one that I recently passed up a few times at my lfs, then when I decided I should get one, they were all gone.:(
 
Temporalis. Coryphenoides look very different in person - Gray, to almost black colors, with more of an arrow shape, pointy head.
 
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