bl00dr0ck;2902890; said:
Not to be a jerk, but johanni and Maingano look alike as adults and completely different as juveniles. That's the easiest way to tell them apart because the maingano( M.
cyaneorhabdos) are never orange or yellow.
Just had to point that out. 
Yes, that's the main distinction between the Johanniis and Mainganos. I think the thread in discussion was putting the question out there if adult Johannii males can be distinguished from adult Mainganos, or not. My answer was yes.
Adult female Johanniis, or sub-adult males will keep the yellow coloration, Mainganos have the base color throughout the juvie stage to adulthood. There's certain little hints that give away sex in adult Mainganos, upon close observation: color intensity (dominant males versus the rest), aggressive behaviour (a dominant male, once he claims a spot he'll chase away competing males and he'll try to entice females to join him) ..last, but not least venting.
Otherone;2903264; said:
We I appreciate all your insight and like I said before, this post was targeting no one individual for any one particular post ......... just a broad observation.
I've honestly never seen an orange or yellow male johanni but i have seen both males as juvi's and as adults the difference is very sudtile one horizontal line of blue with no vertical stripping in that line only for the maingano. However I did not distinguish sex
and obviously failed to get my point across succesfully ............. I'll try in another way shortly to show the differences in common african cichlids as juvi's and adults
and how as juvi's and even teens these fish can resemble other fish or even be classed as unkown at the moment.............I'm no expert on cichlids or even fish for that matter. I have been raising piranha for over 2 decades only about 3 years for Africans. I've been a member on this site for only 2 months most of what I know is thru independent research and study with no forums to cross reference my findings.
About 2 years ago a friend gave me what appeared to be a juvi lab..........he grew stripes a few months later .............HYBRID...........a few months later his coloration became more rusty and body shape became more broad from his original torpedo shape ........... no hybrid the fish is a Tropheop.
Look, I didn't take it personally, but I had to reply. "Shouldn't be so quick to yell Hybrid" when in the past threads I was the one that has mostly identified fish as hybrids, oh well, I had to give an answer and elaborate on the reasons behind my "educated guesses", right?!?
I totally agree with you on the posibility of pure species being snuck into the hobby, or hobbyists dumping them into the stores without giving the correct description, but those are the good exceptions my friend.
For far too long, and for far too many times people have just dumped undescribed hybrids to the local retail stores, or sold them for cheap without thinking of the consequences. For far too long people have mixed and matched species predisposed to hybridization and then they have sent the fry further to other hobbyists as pure specimens. My observation of a fish being a hybrid is not malicious my friend, I simply look them up if I am not certain, and then, if in the described species that I generally think that fish belongs to, I share my guess with you guys. Most often then not it is a hybrid, but if you remember, when someone posted an ID thread over here about those OB Metriaclimas ...I said they might be a pure specie, and I said that I am not familiar with them. What do you know, they were a wild caught variant of OB Metriaclima.
I definitely enjoy the discussion and I agree with you that sometimes good things happen (Tropheops, OB Metriaclima). I don't have to agree with everyone else though, if I remember correctly on the description of Kristi's hybrid, you mentioned he's a keeper. Now, dare I ask Kristi if she has females in that tank
...or it's an all male show tank. Second would definitely run by me, first, I'd have to shake my head a little about that.
...and I never said he's not a nice fish
I will be glad to get a liitle store credit so I can eventually get some better lighting and an fx5!!! Also I finally found a place within driving distance about 1 hr 30 min from my house happens to have wild caught fish So I finally will be able to buy some breeding groups that I will be even more exited about I am gonna have to add more tanks lol which is already in the works! Anyone heard of Uncle Neds Fish Factory?? Thats where we're going in a couple weeks can't wait It's like going to the candy store ~ 
