# cichlid ID game



## lemmywinks (Jan 25, 2004)

I just picked up a few fish and I was wondering how many of you guys could ID some not so common cichlids







If you've seen where i made a list of these guys, dont answer







and ace cant answer on the first one









also, sorry for the crappy pics, other than the first one, all the fish are about 1.5"









1)









2)









3)









4)









5)


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

I like this idea. Juvenile cichlids can be really challenging. I'm going to steal this away to the scientific discussion, it needs some pep!


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## lemmywinks (Jan 25, 2004)

thanks, I wasnt sure if I shouldve posted it in the picture forum or in here.

also, I'll do my best to take better pics. these guys are just so damn tiny and fast though


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

Are they all different species?

and, yeah, that first one looks awfully familiar....:laugh:

From Jeff Rapps?? (all of em?)


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## lemmywinks (Jan 25, 2004)

they are rapps stock, but not directly from him. the place where I got them from doesnt have much of a selection so I'll post that out here until you guys have guessed. also, im sure you know what number 2 is as well


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

I do, sorta, not sure if I had the fish in the last 3 pics.

Is three managuense?


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## lemmywinks (Jan 25, 2004)

no. here is a hint as to what #3 is. it has an enormous mouth and is a semi-agressive giant from CA.

and #2 is about the only thing you would ever find in a lfs


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## Blue (Mar 23, 2005)

#1 looks like Cichlasoma Motaguense?


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## lemmywinks (Jan 25, 2004)

nope, not a P. Motaguense. If it helps any, these little cichlids are native to mexico


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## lemmywinks (Jan 25, 2004)

anybody else wanna give it a try? I dont want to tell what they are yet. Im sure that lophius could get a few of these. and i know that ace can get #2 (atleast he better be able to since he said he has one) and #3 with the clues I gave him.

here are some more clues

#2 is a native to the US









#4 is one of the smaller guapotes from CA









#5 is a freckled monster from SA









these should be plenty of clues for you guys to find them out


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## stilllearnin (Mar 28, 2003)

1 - blue dempsey ?
2 - texas ?
3 - snook?
4 - looks like dovii but hard to make out the pic 
5 - umbee?


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## MR.FREEZ (Jan 26, 2004)

is one of em some kinda bass


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## lemmywinks (Jan 25, 2004)

stilllearnin said:


> 1 - blue dempsey ?
> 2 - texas ?
> 3 - snook?
> 4 - looks like dovii but hard to make out the pic
> ...


damn nice job









#2 is close enough to a texas, it is a carpintis.
#3 is indeed a snook
#5 are umbees









follow the clues. i dont think that blue dempseys are naturally ocouring in mexico, and a dovii isnt a small guapote









and freez, none of them are bass









and here is another pic of #1 and #4


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

Well that #1 will get very "black and white".....







and #4..... hmmmm.... P. louiselli?


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## stilllearnin (Mar 28, 2003)

> follow the clues. i dont think that blue dempseys are naturally ocouring in mexico










opps , didn't read that and the first picture looks blue especially the fins

One more try 
1 - managuensis ?
2 - texas 
3 - snook
4 - loisellei ?
5 - umbee


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

MR.FREEZ said:


> is one of em some kinda bass
> [snapback]1111117[/snapback]​


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## lemmywinks (Jan 25, 2004)

nope, not a loiselli. it's not from the parachromis genus, but it is still refered to as one of the guapotes









and with the clue that ace gave you, #1 should be very very easy now


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## MR.FREEZ (Jan 26, 2004)

acestro said:


> MR.FREEZ said:
> 
> 
> > is one of em some kinda bass
> ...










im tryin, my ID sucks and i know it, one day i will no longer be

a young grasshopper but the master


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

Take the pebble from my hand....


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

lemmywinks said:


> nope, not a loiselli. it's not from the parachromis genus, but it is still refered to as one of the guapotes
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Ah, perhaps grammodes? If so, that will be awesome to see how they turn out!


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## lemmywinks (Jan 25, 2004)

yup, they are baby grammodes







I got 3 of them









the sad thing is that they grow soooo slow. I heard they only grow about 1/4" a month









and here is a new challenge since all but #1 has been figured out. Youve posted a pic of one of these on here before ace









*edit* unless you really know your sh*t, this guy is going to give you alot of trouble. He is quite diffrent from most of the fish in his genus


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## stilllearnin (Mar 28, 2003)

Thorichthys?
was thinking helleri but haven't seen Rapps list those lately.

Maybe pasiones?


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

If no one else can guess number one I'll spill the beans, or were you talking about this most recent pic?

I gotta tell ya Lemmy, that 300 would be sweet with all of these younguns in it. Forget putting monster peacocks in it (I know many will disagree with me), these guys will be acting so natural with that amount of space. Just my thoughts









I think pasionis is a good guess for the latest fish.


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## stilllearnin (Mar 28, 2003)

acestro said:


> or were you talking about this most recent pic?
> 
> [snapback]1113294[/snapback]​


 Yeah the last pics I gave up on #1 lol


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## stilllearnin (Mar 28, 2003)

Since I looked like fool with the wrong guess's
















Got a guess on this








View attachment 69363


It doesn't count if you seen it already


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## lemmywinks (Jan 25, 2004)

stilllearnin said:


> Thorichthys?
> was thinking helleri but haven't seen Rapps list those lately.
> 
> Maybe pasiones?
> [snapback]1113117[/snapback]​


not a thorichthys. think bigger....


acestro said:


> If no one else can guess number one I'll spill the beans, or were you talking about this most recent pic?
> 
> I gotta tell ya Lemmy, that 300 would be sweet with all of these younguns in it. Forget putting monster peacocks in it (I know many will disagree with me), these guys will be acting so natural with that amount of space. Just my thoughts
> 
> ...


Ive decided to drop the peacock bass idea and do just this









and again, think bigger than thorichthys


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## lemmywinks (Jan 25, 2004)

stilllearnin said:


> Since I looked like fool with the wrong guess's
> 
> 
> 
> ...


awwww. i already saw you post those on another site









i love a good challenge


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

Think bigger.... hmmm.... How about A. robertsoni?


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## lemmywinks (Jan 25, 2004)

acestro said:


> Think bigger.... hmmm.... How about A. robertsoni?
> [snapback]1113912[/snapback]​


yup









and by the way, #1 is begining to breed in my aquarium. the male and female are turning really black on the bottom half


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

That's cool about the breeding and your choice of fish is cool as well (I have a couple of young robertsoni :laugh: )


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

But I'm wondering how long it takes for them to get MORE blue on the body. They're still relatively bland for me at around 2.5 in.


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## lemmywinks (Jan 25, 2004)

acestro said:


> But I'm wondering how long it takes for them to get MORE blue on the body. They're still relatively bland for me at around 2.5 in.
> [snapback]1114400[/snapback]​


from what I understand, they start to really color up at about 4". Ive also heard that these guys are super slow growers. Someone told me thiers went from 1.5-4" in a little under a year


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

Ug.... that makes me a saaaaaad panda.


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## lemmywinks (Jan 25, 2004)

omg dude. you have no idea how hard that made me laugh


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

Embarrassed to say I made myself laugh too.

I'm trying to feed them up but it does seem to be almost "Herichthys labridens" type of growth.


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

Well, besides my robertsoni actually growing up there is also interest in ressurecting this thread. Anyone have any tricky juvenile cichlid shots?


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## MR.FREEZ (Jan 26, 2004)

i always tried to find em but never knew

were to start









glad you brought it back cause i didnt miss it

till just now :laugh:

i dont think i could post a picture that would be

a tough to guess


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

This one might be too hard but give it a shot. The little bugger is 8 weeks old.


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## Devon Amazon (Apr 3, 2005)

Uaru amphiacanthoides?


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

Nope, right continent though! This one may be too small so I'll be dropping hints...


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## Jason_s (Jan 30, 2004)

> and here is a new challenge since all but #1 has been figured out.


well I know that statement was made several months ago, but since no one ever said what #1 is I will...how about Herichthys bartoni. I actually thought it was a labridens at first until the "very black and white comment." LOL

as for the last pic by acestro, my first thought was a baby oscar.


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## Jason_s (Jan 30, 2004)

ok, so even the last post was over a month ago







oops LOL

well, if anyone would like to revive this, try to get these...


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

First one... H. cyanoguttatus (or maybe flowerhorn?)
Second... C. kraussi?
Third one.... H. minckleyi ?
Fourth... N. tetracanthus?
Last one... maybe T. aureus?

I think I forgot what my old pic was! I'm pretty sure it was a porthole type cichlid!


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## Jason_s (Jan 30, 2004)

you are correct on 2 and 4. the first and last ones, imo, will be very tricky. I will say as a hint that the cichlids I posted have *not* been posted before in this thread.


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

Hmmm.....

For the first one I'll hold off....

The middle one.... "Cichlasoma" pearsei?

The last one... Thorichthys helleri?

Is the first one an Amphilophus?


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## Jason_s (Jan 30, 2004)

acestro said:


> Hmmm.....
> 
> For the first one I'll hold off....
> 
> ...


no, no and no. you're in the right family with the last one, and you were much closer with your first guess of #1.







the middle one I'll give a hint on...there has not been a picture of it posted yet in this thread, though it has been mentioned. there are several variants of that species, and if you can guess the one that it is I'll be even more impressed.


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## lemmywinks (Jan 25, 2004)

Damn those thorichthys! they are tricky to ID when they are young.. but eventually we'll get it







Other than that... they seem pretty easy









since Ace got #2 and 4 pretty easy, ill give the others a shot...

#1 Herichthys Tamasopoensis
#3 Herichthys Labridens "yellow varient" (for a while I was thinking this girl was a vieja....







)
#5 Thorichthys maculipinnis


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## Jason_s (Jan 30, 2004)

lemmy got #3 correct. that is a media luna Herichthys labridens. it died some time ago for no known reason. the other fish in the tank were fine, and the labridens never showed signs of being picked on. I recently read though in an article by Juan Miquel that labridens are very susceptible to problems with water quality, even if only temporary. so I'm thinking I might have been late on a water change and nitrates got higher than the labridens liked and that's what killed it. it really pissed me off though because the other fish in the tank showed no signs whatsoever of any problems. so, that's a quick lesson for you all....if you ever keep any of the labridens complex, be religious with water quality. that's what I'm doing now with the new batch of blue labridens I just got.









anyway, still got #1 and #5 to go. I'll give a very vague hint for now, and in a day or so I'll be more specific. these 2 *species* have something in common, which has something to do with their scientific name.


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

Jason_s said:


> no, no and no. you're in the right family with the last one, and you were much closer with your first guess of #1.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I think I was in the right family with all of them!









Weird about those labridens being so sensitive but I guess the springs are rather stable environments compared to most cichlid habitats.

For those guesses again... interesting hint. Maybe _Herichthys sp. "Rio Cazones"_ and _Thorichthys sp. "Mixteco gold"_ ?


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## Jason_s (Jan 30, 2004)

> I think I was in the right family with all of them!


yes, with your original answer. the post you quoted was my answer to your post where you asked if the first fish was an Amphilophus. so









but yeah, originally you had the right family with all of them. you're getting closer with both but neither are correct yet. I guess now I can explain the hint I gave before about both species having something in common...they're both undescribed species so neither has an established scientific name yet.


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## lemmywinks (Jan 25, 2004)

H. sp. 'terquoise' 
T. Mexteco sp. 'albino'

I have no clue at all on that Thorichthys









And yes, labridens and bartoni are both very picky fish (need a very strict diet and water must be kept prisitne as well too). I'm pretty happy with my Bartoni's though, they are baout 3-4" now (taking forever to grow







) and have bred twice


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## Jason_s (Jan 30, 2004)

nope and nope...you're getting closer on each one, and really there are only 2 more guesses for #5 so you should be able to get it pretty soon.

that's awesome to hear about your bartoni. glad to hear they're spawning for you. I have a male labridens "tamul" (the white labridens) that I got at auction I'd say well over a year ago. this guy was probalby 2-3" when I got it and right now it's at most 4.5". it could probably be a little bigger, but when I moved I had to slow down feeding because I had to put more fish together than I had before I moved due to not being able to set up all of my tanks where I'm staying for now.

I just got some interesting news from Juan Miguel on his site about the new "blue" labridens I picked up last weekend. he said that there's a good chance they are actually a variant of H. pantostictus instead of H. labridens. I thought that was interesting and I can't wait to watch these guys grow. it will take a while though...they're currently only at most 3/4".







oh well, they'll get there eventually. I thought about getting a picture of one of them and posting it here, but they are so small that they could literally be anything. this thread could have gone on forever with people trying to guess what they are. LOL


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## Blue (Mar 23, 2005)

How do you guys know these esoteric fish?


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## SouthernBoy (Dec 15, 2005)

I will have one tomorrow...it is my own fish that i cant figure it out so i will post it for the masters....lol.


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

Herichthys is a fascinating group (and a mess too!). At least I guessed the last pair to be undescribed, no time today to figure it out, go get 'em Lemmy!

Looking forward to Southernboy's pic as well.


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## Jason_s (Jan 30, 2004)

well the guessing appears to have stopped so I'll go ahead and tell you. the first pic was Herichthys sp. 'Rio Salto' and the last pic was Thorichthys sp. 'Mixteco Green'.









anyone else got some juvie pics to guess. I have one more but it should be pretty easy.


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

Almost looks like a Haitiensis cichlid.


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## Jason_s (Jan 30, 2004)

acestro said:


> Almost looks like a Haitiensis cichlid.


you sir, are correct


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

To be honest I wasn't sure, then I went to the fish room and saw my half grown haitiensis. Forgot they had that line down the side!


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## lemmywinks (Jan 25, 2004)

Awww.. those were the 2 sp.'s I was going to guess next







well atleast I know I wouldve been right









And that's a nice lil male haitien









I'm finally getting back into cichlids (woot!) so in a few weeks I should be able to contribute a few more pics to this thread that I can try to stump you guys with









But, for the sake of keeping this thread going, here's an easy one


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## Jason_s (Jan 30, 2004)

Laetacara curviceps?

I suck at most south americans (acaras esecially).

LOL :laugh:


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