Mystery cichlid please identify.

[krisH42o]

My neighbor went to Florida a couple weeks ago to collect wild live bearers and brought me back this little cichlid (I think). He thought it might be a mayan and it was caught in the same water as a bunch of Hemichromis letourneuxi (jewel cichlid). I have compared this little fish to all know established cichlids found in South Florida and I'm stumped.
Kinda looks like a Dempsey to me.
Any help will be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[krisH42o]

 

[Fish on Fire]

Probably some type of tilapia. Def not a dempsey.

 

[duanes]

Agree with fish on fire.
It looks to be one of the many Tilapines that have been introduced to Florida.There are over 100 species that are very similar in appearance, so very hard to distinguish. They are found from south Florida to north of Sarasota, I found them in almost every body of water I passed.


some I found in canals were over a ft long

 

[NW Cichlid Keith]

Tilapia likely - there are also black acaras that when large can look a little like a smaller tilapia

 

[ryansmith83]

^ The acaras don't have the black "earspot" opercular marking on the edge of the gill like a lot of the African riverine fish do, though.

 

[krisH42o]

Thanks guys. That's to bad though, not sure I will keep him now.

 

[BIG-G]

I would hang on to it for a little while longer. To see if any color or pattern starts to develop.
It does look Tilapiine to me also. But it could be a cool fish. I

 

[krisH42o]

It does look to be getting blue iridescence on the head. To hard to get a pic.

 

[Tyler_Wentworth_150]

Keep growing it out gets my vote. Might be super cool