ID and Gender help

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FishAddict74

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pretty sure it’s a type of lethrinops but I’m not sure on type or gender. It looks female to me but I hear they color up late and the dark anal fin makes me wonder
 

Wyomingite

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pretty sure it’s a type of lethrinops but I’m not sure on type or gender. It looks female to me but I hear they color up late and the dark anal fin makes me wonder
Take a look at some pics and videos of Otopharynx tetrastigma females. I'm pretty sure that's what she is. It looks like the edging on the dorsal fin is red with an inner black? If there's a little white between the red and black, all the better, but it isn't always prominent in females. I can't get a good enough look at the anal fin to tell what is color and what is background color bleeding through due to the transparency of the fin. It looks like the rostrum is fairly long, and forms a fairly sharp angle with the jaw, say 45 degrees or a little more. Finally, it looks like the three spots are fairly even spaced and form a line more or less along the lateral line. The other one I'm thinking it could be is Tramitichromis intermedius, but the spots angle up towards the front of the dorsal fin and aren't as straight and the rostrum forms less of an angle with the bottom of the jaw, maybe 60 degrees, in Tramitochromis intermedius, if I remember right. My 2 cents.

WYite
 
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FishAddict74

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Dec 8, 2020
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Take a look at some pics and videos of Otopharynx tetrastigma females. I'm pretty sure that's what she is. It looks like the edging on the dorsal fin is red with an inner black? If there's a little white between the red and black, all the better, but it isn't always prominent in females. I can't get a good enough look at the anal fin to tell what is color and what is background color bleeding through due to the transparency of the fin. It looks like the rostrum is fairly long, and forms a fairly sharp angle with the jaw, say 45 degrees or a little more. Finally, it looks like the three spots are fairly even spaced and form a line more or less along the lateral line. The other one I'm thinking it could be is Tramitichromis intermedius, but the spots angle up towards the front of the dorsal fin and aren't as straight and the rostrum forms less of an angle with the bottom of the jaw, maybe 60 degrees, in Tramitochromis intermedius, if I remember right. My 2 cents.

WYite
I did a google search on the species you mentioned and after looking at some pics, I think you are right that it’s a female Otopharynx tetrastigma. I found pics that look just like mine.
Thank you!
 

Wyomingite

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Glad I could be of service! RIft Valley cichlids don't get by me too often. ;)?

WYite
 

FishAddict74

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Glad I could be of service! RIft Valley cichlids don't get by me too often. ;)?

WYite
I’ve never kept lethrinops type before because I’ve read haps/peacocks are too much to handle for them and they don’t color up. Aside from this girl, I have an all male tank. Do you think if i added a male of this type having the female would help it color up or do think that’s just asking for problems?
 

Wyomingite

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Oct 16, 2008
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I’ve never kept lethrinops type before because I’ve read haps/peacocks are too much to handle for them and they don’t color up. Aside from this girl, I have an all male tank. Do you think if i added a male of this type having the female would help it color up or do think that’s just asking for problems?
Lethrinops and Tramitichromis spp. can be a little sensitive with the more aggressive haps, but I've kept males in all male tanks. And I've kept a breeding group of red cap itungi with other haps, specifically Copadichromis virginalis. So it's hard to classify haps into one or the other, even within one genus. I'll keep both of the previous fish with Nimbochromis venustus, and I'll keep N. venustus with mbuna, but I'd never keep the itungi or the virginalis with mbuna. I'll keep both species of Otopharynx that I've kept, Otopharynx lithobates and O. tetrastigma, with haps and mbuna, BUT I'll limit the mbuna to mellow species with the tetrastigma and I'll put the lithobates with mbuna up to medium agression. I'd never put the either with hyper-aggressiive mbuna like auratus or kennyi, however. In one study, O. lithobates was kept in a tank with a Cynotilapia afra and the dominant male lithobates out competed the afra males and hybridized with the afra females. Hope that helps a bit. So my point of that ramble, mix-and-matching with haps, peacocks and mbuna can't be categorized easily because there are too many combos and options.

So from what I've seen from the fish I've noticed in your videos, a male tetrastigma shoud be fine. Throwing the female in will color him up. It is most likely that the male will harass her to death. I've never had a problem with males chasing a female of a different species, probably because the same-species males harass her enough already. I always had one mix tank for extra fish that didn't fit with a breeding group. I might have one male and two females of species A and one of each of species B, two males and one female of species C, etc. and there were enough fish to reduce the aggression and keep the females relatively safe. I didn't trade or give away fish from that tank, so I didn't worry about hybrids, and mostly never lived long enough anyways.

WYite
 

FishAddict74

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Dec 8, 2020
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Lethrinops and Tramitichromis spp. can be a little sensitive with the more aggressive haps, but I've kept males in all male tanks. And I've kept a breeding group of red cap itungi with other haps, specifically Copadichromis virginalis. So it's hard to classify haps into one or the other, even within one genus. I'll keep both of the previous fish with Nimbochromis venustus, and I'll keep N. venustus with mbuna, but I'd never keep the itungi or the virginalis with mbuna. I'll keep both species of Otopharynx that I've kept, Otopharynx lithobates and O. tetrastigma, with haps and mbuna, BUT I'll limit the mbuna to mellow species with the tetrastigma and I'll put the lithobates with mbuna up to medium agression. I'd never put the either with hyper-aggressiive mbuna like auratus or kennyi, however. In one study, O. lithobates was kept in a tank with a Cynotilapia afra and the dominant male lithobates out competed the afra males and hybridized with the afra females. Hope that helps a bit. So my point of that ramble, mix-and-matching with haps, peacocks and mbuna can't be categorized easily because there are too many combos and options.

So from what I've seen from the fish I've noticed in your videos, a male tetrastigma shoud be fine. Throwing the female in will color him up. It is most likely that the male will harass her to death. I've never had a problem with males chasing a female of a different species, probably because the same-species males harass her enough already. I always had one mix tank for extra fish that didn't fit with a breeding group. I might have one male and two females of species A and one of each of species B, two males and one female of species C, etc. and there were enough fish to reduce the aggression and keep the females relatively safe. I didn't trade or give away fish from that tank, so I didn't worry about hybrids, and mostly never lived long enough anyways.

WYite
Thank you, I actually find it refreshing that you had those mixes. People are so set on the absolutes lol I did a rift tank in this same 75 a couple years ago with mbuna, vics, haps n Aulonocara ( venustus included) and it worked well asides from the vics fighting amongst themselves a little . I gave 6 of the 7 hybrids I had to a friend that liked them because they were pretty feisty and dominating the tank, one I kept because it seemed to have all sulpherhead traits. Nothing I have is too aggressive, I’d say the jake Or dragonblood or maybe the Xmas fulu are the most aggressive. I have a shipment coming late next week with a red empress, placidochromis milomo and a protomelas stevini Pombo rocks , so maybe Ill see how everyone does and possibly try the male Otopharynx if all goes well. The female is doing fine and nobody is bothering her.
 
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