Malawi cichlid ID?

aquariaddictus

aquariaddictus

occasional user
Aug 17, 2002
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This little guy was 'born' in my community Malawi tank. I have no idea what it is. The inhabitants of the tank at the time were: m auratus, one male, several females (I can see the resemblance, but where did the vertical barring come from?), m johanni (just two males, I think), ps albino zebras, yellow labs, rusties, and a few assorted ps OB zebras. The only possiblity for hybridization that I can see is the auratus with a johanni (which might actually be a cyaneorhabdos, I don't remember - my LFS is very bad at fish IDs). I may have introduced new female auratuses at some point just prior to his arrival - I suppose they could have been carrying eggs without my noticing?

Any ideas?
judy

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But when my auratus bred again, the babies were spitting images of mom - no hint of vertical barring at all. And this guy's old enough to have grown into whatever his markings are going to be. I'm confused:confused:
 
They could have bred with anything at the store, though. Also, I recall seeing those markings on an Auratus that I saw somewhere...
 
Hi Judy,

It looks like a cross-breed from whatever fish and M.Auratus, can't say. :confused:

An other thing; why do you THINK you have two male M.Johanni.
Their colour is, I thought, pretty obvious.
Two males in the same tank? They can't stand each other. They can't im my tank which is 120 gall. Either you have a tank which is like 180 gall, or one of them is female. I know an inferior or subdominant male can assume the coloration of a female. But the dominant male will not be easily fooled by that.

Sorry I couldn't be of any help.
Jimmy.
 
haha, you got me there. I forgot, female johannis are yellow aren't they? I don't know about the cyaneorhabdos, tho. I have a couple good sites with pics. Let me go find them. BRB

http://malawicichlids.com/mw09003i.htm

http://malawicichlids.com/mw09003a.htm

I really think I have cyaneorhabdos.

I can't explain why my fish aren't more agressive toward each other. The male auratus has killed a couple of 'wives' I've bought for him, but that's about it. I keep them fairly crowded, and they were all bought small, at about the same time. Once I get the 185, I think there will be room enough fror everyone's territory.
 
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Point well taken. When there's not much else to go by, I usually try to judge the relative degree of the bumpiness of the head (although I can see a slight difference in the 'pointiness' of the dorsal fin in your pics, and in the amount of black coloration).

I'm cleaning that tank now, so maybe I'll net them and get a side-by-side shot. I wish they were a pair - I'd set up a species tank for them. I love the blue/black combo. Is the difference in the tail fin significant, or do you think it's just a natural variation?
tanks
judy
 
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