Pseudocrenilabrus multicolor questions

[bitsnpcs]

Hello Simon,
does he specify any differences between the sexes ?
I notice on the pics all three have a red edge to the dorsal fin, this is not so obvious when looking at them, on your fish in the past did both genders have this or just males ?
Thank you for the retailer link.

[westafrica]

Hi,

I think your fish are P. philander : they have no blue lips, which rules out P. m. victoriae, the color pattern doesn't match P. multicolor multicolor, and they have the characteristic iridescent metallic blue line along the lower jaw + vertical bars on the body. They are definitely not P. nicholsi. For now, I cannot spot any pattern in the anal fins of any of the 3 fish, I hope for you they are not 3 females...

You can send your pics to Rico Morgenstern for ID confirmation if you want (he's registered on the Cichlid Room Companion forum).

Do you know where they were caught / where they originate from ? P. philander could in fact be many different subspecies / a species flock, there natural repartition area is pretty wide and their morphology ( size especially) and color patterns are very variable, it is therefore important to know which morph you have, or at least not to mix it with fish from other localities...

[bitsnpcs]

Hello westafrica,

in just over a month these 3 fish will go into their own tank, I will then try and get better photos of each lit by the aquarium lighting and I'll post these on the forum. The previous pics were taken using a desk lamp.
When I post improved photos I will also send the pics to Rico Morgenstern for ID confirmation, I am unsure how to go about that ?

On the tail of the largest fish there are blue shapes in rows, radiating rows like so )))))) where there are several of these blue shapes on each ), these are seen only when the light hits the fishes tail.
There is also a similar shade of blue on the edge of the pelvic fins.
I will try to get a photo showing this.

I ordered them via a fish store (Shirley Aquatics), they ordered them from an importer in Germany, I do not know any more than this about where they originate from.

[westafrica]

Hello,

IF the importer is Aquarium Glaser and if you remember the date of the purchase, they may be able to tell you where the fish originate from.

Regarding the blue shapes and rows, depending on their intensity they can also appear on females, being more visible on the more dominant individuals. Overall, the anal fin remains more translucent with less strongly marked patterns on females compared to males. Depending on the origin and on the individual, not all males will have the orange / red color tip at the end of the anal fin, but in any case there will be clearly marked patterns in their anal fin.

For ID confirmation request, the third picture you posted could be sufficiently qualitative to allow Rico Morgenstern to give you a positive ID. To do so, you can just send him a PM on the cichlid room companion forum embedding a link to this topic . I don't know him, but he posted really interesting things about the genus Pseudocrenilabrus on CRC forums (you can make a search on CRC forum with the keyword "pseudocrenilabrus" and you will see what I'm talking about ).

Hope this helps!

[Paul B]

Hi Jerome,

i have tried to find pictures of pseudocrenilabrus nicholsi katwe soma Yves collected in 2007 with no luck, do you have images of this fish you could share with us (in a new thread ?)
many thanks in advance - hope this isnt a thread jack

[westafrica]

Sorry Paul, I don't have any! The Kikondja local morph established itself better in the french hobby, and you can more easily find some pics of it (and videos), it's quite close in color and shape, but if you really want some pics of this morph, I guess the simplest way would be to contact Yves by PM on cichlidsforum.fr, where he logs in quite often (by the name of "gbarnga"). . He speaks english

[bitsnpcs]

Hello,

IF the importer is Aquarium Glaser and if you remember the date of the purchase, they may be able to tell you where the fish originate from.

Regarding the blue shapes and rows, depending on their intensity they can also appear on females, being more visible on the more dominant individuals. Overall, the anal fin remains more translucent with less strongly marked patterns on females compared to males. Depending on the origin and on the individual, not all males will have the orange / red color tip at the end of the anal fin, but in any case there will be clearly marked patterns in their anal fin.

For ID confirmation request, the third picture you posted could be sufficiently qualitative to allow Rico Morgenstern to give you a positive ID. To do so, you can just send him a PM on the cichlid room companion forum embedding a link to this topic . I don't know him, but he posted really interesting things about the genus Pseudocrenilabrus on CRC forums (you can make a search on CRC forum with the keyword "pseudocrenilabrus" and you will see what I'm talking about ).

Hope this helps!

Hello,

yes this is helpful thank you

I am unsure of the date when they were imported.

I have taken a few more pictures this evening and will add these 5 in this post.
These pics are taken in the community tank where they live currently, which is cichlids and a bristlenose.
These photos are not very good either, but they are accurate of the fish, in that these are the colour the fish are when looked at with the eyes, also there are no stress bars on them as I didn't move them to a another tank to photograph them.
Can you advise me please which of these and the last ones would be the best for ID purposes ?

Tail shot, and showing the blue and yellow through the scales of the fishes body.


Overall shape of the fish, showing what the yellow in tail and fins looks like.


Overall shape of the fish, (pic is a bit blurry and dark) showing how the bue extends onto the lower lip and also the blue running along the inner edges of the fins near body.


Upper fish shows blue on lower lip, and gill cover.
Lower fish shows the shape of scales, and how there is one colour in the top "row", a different in the middle "row" and again different in the lower "row".


Upper fish, different angle showing blue on lower lip and how it extends to the sides and gill cover.(previous images on page 1 of thread show the side view of the blue extending)
Lower fish, scales closer up, closer example of the blue inner edge to the fin.

[westafrica]

I'm not an expert, but it still looks like P. philander to me, and ni sign of manhood At all... Does the biggest one have even à slightly coloured spot at the end of the anal fin? If not, then I'm affraid you have 3 females, by this size males should be declared for long (Pseudocrenilabrus can breed from the size of 1 inch) .

[bitsnpcs]

Hello,

there are no coloured spots at the end of the anal fin on the biggest one (or any of the 3 fish).

I joined the cichlid room companion forum but it won't allow me to send a pm to any members as it says when the staff feel I have participated regularly enough then they will enable the function, so it is not an option to contact Rico Morgenstern for me at this time.

[Andrew W]

Hello,

there are no coloured spots at the end of the anal fin on the biggest one (or any of the 3 fish).

I joined the cichlid room companion forum but it won't allow me to send a pm to any members as it says when the staff feel I have participated regularly enough then they will enable the function, so it is not an option to contact Rico Morgenstern for me at this time.

CRC had some problems with spammers a while back so have fairly stringent controls to prevent spammers (also includes thread/post moderation/approval for new members), post a thread and wait for it to appear, with a bit of help we can get Rico to look at it for you.

If you also mention in this thread you may find approval goes through a bit quicker > http://www.cichlidae.com/forum/viewtopi ... 18&t=12922

Andrew