help identify these mbuna

sorrow503

AC Members
May 19, 2008
38
0
6
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portland,or
i know what most of my mbuna are or what the lfs said they are.i lost the receipt for a few,the peach/cream colored one,and the greenish barred one i have no idea.i dont know if the large light blue male with barring is a socolofi or not.i think the last pic is p.elongates likoma island,and 2nd to last is aurora. thought it would be interesting to see what other people think.thanks

IMG_6449.JPG IMG_6434.JPG IMG_6430.JPG IMG_6500.JPG IMG_6254.JPG IMG_6467.JPG IMG_6421.JPG
 
2nd pic is either Melanochromis cyaneorhabdos (Maingano) or Melanochromis johannii.
3rd pics looks like Pseudotropheus flavus – Dinghani.
 
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its not a dinghani,hes got more a greenish color,not yellow,and has looked this way since i bought him very small.dinghani look different when younger.thanks for the help.
 
i thought it was a zebra to,but he is more a cream,peach color,compared to my red zebra,unless there color dulls down when they mature.
 
1st looks like a labeotropheus fulleborni (a pic of its snout would be better for a 100% id).
2nd I agree with Razzo and mr. cichlid either a maingano or johannii.
3rd and 5th is a pseudo. elongatus (though not sure which variant, could be a chailosi).
4th is a red zebra (m. estherae, males tend to get lighter in color, while the females retain a bright orange, though it is possible for females to go lighter as well).
6th looks like a pseudo. aurora.
7th I'm not exactly sure what this is. Looks like a cyno. afra of some type, but it also has stripes in addition to bars, could be a hybrid, but don't quote me on that.
 
Lots of Malawi can be hybrids of some sort since been cross bred (unintentional) for over 2 decades.
Correctly iding mbuna is not easy tasks unless can traced backits ancestry.

but for fun I would say
1) Pseudotropheus socolofi
2). M. johanni
3). Ps. flavus
4). Ps zebra
5). Haplochromis/Cyrtocara moori + cant remember the name.
6) Too young to tell, imo.
7) Ps demasoni rather than C. afra since vertical stripes to caudal peduncle and body shape..
It has been close to10 yrs, maybe more, since leaving most malawi Cichlids other than new wild specimens that come to industry for first time.. Even some scientific names are dwindling, lol. .
I wasmore into Rarer or should I say more difficult to keep Lake Tang. cichlid/cyrinids and not even doing that now.I wish I could have my fish rooms back.

Anyway, enjoy them as they are all beauties.
 
Lots of Malawi can be hybrids of some sort since been cross bred (unintentional) for over 2 decades.
Correctly iding mbuna is not easy tasks unless can traced backits ancestry.

I would disagree, these days it is easier than ever (especially with an abundance of reputable online retailers) to get pure quality (f1, f2, etc..) mbuna, even wild caught, without having to worry of its bloodline. Unless of course you're shopping at big chain retailers with their "assorted" variety.
 
The first looks identical to my Labeotropheus Fuelleborni from Thumbi Isl. As said previously, a picture of the mouth area would help ID him. The third looks to possibly be one of the Cynotilapia Afra types.
 
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