I gave a talk on the genus Pelvicachromis and other West African Cichlids at my local aquarium club here in Charlotte, NC (Charlotte Area Aquarists Society) and wrote this in our forum afterword to help my fellow members work through perhaps the most potentially confusing species in the genus Pelvicachromis in terms of locality and color forms. I hope this helps anyone interested in my favorite fish species. PELVICACHROMIS TAENIATUS- A BUYERS GUIDE The locals of Pelvicachromis taeniatus can be a bit overwhelming especially when you are looking at dealer lists. What ARE you getting and do you really need to get ALL of them? In my opinion you do NOT have to get all the locals to get the gist and beauty of this wonderful species. However, you can base your breeding collection around the local forms ALONE and have a wonderful fish collection without losing your house and going broke on your power bill. This is not an attempt at taxonomy but a simple way to make more informed purchases and avoid being suckered by importers trying to make more sales by simply giving something a new name. I have kept or seen most of these varieties in person and I will simplify them here for convenience. NIGERIA/BENIN/TOGO: Green and Yellow- different from each other and YOU DO want both! The red form is a TANK/captive form that does have some Cameroon breeding. CAMEROON: These are all grouped by color and pattern differences, though they also happen to occur in the same geographical area. I will only describe out the most relevant points- which are in the male caudle fins on most of these fish. The Cameroon fish might be given their own species status soon. The end result being two specie-one encompassing Moliwe, Muyuka, Nodonga , Nijanje, Lobe/ Nyete, Lokoundje, Kienke/Nange, Bipendi, Banderwouri, Makoure and the second for the Wouri locale. Anton Lamboj will keep us posted! Moliwe, Muyuka, Nodonga and Nijanje ( Nijanje has been hypothesized that it could be Muyuka): Upper half of caudle fin on males- gold with black spots- boarded in clear or white circles and then black circles, depending on local and fish. All of these have a similar look otherwise, so you just need one form of them in your collection if youre on a budget. Northern Cameroon. Lobe and Nyete: I think they should be ONE form since the Nyete River is a tributary of the Lobe. Males have NO spots on caudle fin, just iridescent blue and red spangles. Both males and females tend to have more yellow on body. Southern Cameroon Lokoundje, Kienke/Nange, Bipendi, Banderwouri, Makoure: Almost identical- I mean REALLY identical! Males have 2-5 black spots on upper half of caudle encircled by gold/yellow. Some specimens the entire upper half is like a Northern form but not usually. Lokoundje fish usually have a more pronounced yellow border on the lower half of the caudle fin in males. I have noticed that the Makoure fish I have kept have been more intensely colored than others in this group. Again, if you have one of these forms, you have them all- more or less. The Nange form does not count at all as it is the same thing as Kienke as pointed out in Antons book, yet is mentioned here for reference. Southern Cameroon Dehane and Edea: They look EXACTLY like the 5 locals described above, YET males have red blotches on their cheeks- which is unmistakable in ANY light conditions. Both of these locals are VERY hard to find on the market, and are reportedly more difficult to breed than others. The red cheek blotches make these worth getting! Southern Cameroon Wouri: It might be its own species very soon. Females are the most spectacular, with orange blotches on body with solid gold caudle, dorsal and anal fins bordered in brown. The male looks rather plain at first but one soon gets hooked on his intricate caudle fin pattern that resembles a Nigerian fish. Unfortunately it is not an easy fish to breed. Middle Cameroon Due to the repetition of color and body form in Apistograma- would an expert in Apistos PLEASE create a simple buyer’s guide to the genus Apistograma like I did for P. taeniatus? This would be a great help to me who does not have an obsessive interest in them but would like to have a few!
Posted on: Fri, 03 Oct 2014 16:09:40 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015