# Which Pelvicachromis taeniatus?



## Gibby (Aug 5, 2009)

Just like someone to identify which form these are.

Male in foreground with female just visible in the background


The female is on the left with the male on the right.


They're also getting amorous and have been cleaning the coconut shell out for their love shack [smilie=u:


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## geeks_15 (Dec 9, 2006)

I'm no expert, but they look like pelvicachromis pulcher and not pelvicachromis taeniatus. Pulcher males will have the pointed or spade shaped tail and taeniatus have a rounded tail.

Ask at www.apistogramma.com (there is a section for west african cichlids) where there are several contributors with more fish indentification experience.


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## Gibby (Aug 5, 2009)

Grrrrr they were sold to me as taeniatus and were thus a bit more expensive


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## ddavila06 (Jan 31, 2009)

those are defenitly regular pet store cribs...they are still nice though


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## Six (May 29, 2006)

If you want to try some taeniatus, look for Keinke. I want to get another pair going again- absolutely beautiful fish.


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## ed seeley (Dec 1, 2006)

Definitely pulcher. Lovely fish so don't get rid just coz they aren't what you bought - but demand a refund from the shop where you bought them. They will be worth a lot less than taeniatus.


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## Gibby (Aug 5, 2009)

Thanks for the id guys. I spoke to my LFS today and they were brought in from a breeder. Obviously the fish were too young to identify and they only had the breeder's word for the species. Turns out they were selling them the same as the pulchers so I lost nothing cashwise.


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## ed seeley (Dec 1, 2006)

Gibby said:


> Thanks for the id guys. I spoke to my LFS today and they were brought in from a breeder. Obviously the fish were too young to identify and they only had the breeder's word for the species. Turns out they were selling them the same as the pulchers so I lost nothing cashwise.


Really? That whole story sounds a little fishy to me. Why would they sell a fish worth at least twice at the same price?

Also did they buy them from a breeder and then grow them on themselves? This is not what usually happens. When I sell fish to stores I have to grow them to saleable size first to get decent prices and if they did grow them on they should have seen the differences between the species as they are not that hard to tell apart if you've seen both species before.


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## ed seeley (Dec 1, 2006)

Gibby said:


> Just like someone to identify which form these are.


Forgot to also say that you cannot positively identify which geographical form of taeniatus they are from their appearance alone. you can sometimes tell what they aren't or which general region they are from (e.g. Northern Cameroonian forms are very different to the Nigerian forms).

Even then they shouldn't be sold as that type but just the species. If you were to sell a fish as one form and they weren't and another person bought them and crossed them with other fish, or even just bred and sold them on themselves, then you'd have a mix and we would lose the wild forms. If you lose the name then don't try and give it another, just enjoy the fish for what it is - a beautiful Pelvicachromis.


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## Gibby (Aug 5, 2009)

Thanks for your info ed. The fish were brought in by someone who had bred them in their tank but I don't think it was a professional breeder. They were pretty much fully grown. I don't know which staff member labeled them up but as I've had some good deals from the manager I'm not complaining.

They definitely are a lovely fish and have been more active in the coupling department than the dwarf and jewel cichlids I've bought.


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## 808aquatics (Sep 26, 2008)

Here's my breeding pair and their first set of fry's.


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## Gibby (Aug 5, 2009)

Mine are now the proud parents of six fry


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