# Tang ID



## ILCichlid (Feb 27, 2012)

I normally don't buy a species if I am 100% sure what it is but took the risk on two of these because the shop had no clue what the fish was and gave me the price of a small sized assorted african which was on sale plus I had a 25% coupon so ended up getting both for $2.50 each. They look a lot like Leleupi and I know there are quite a few color variations but haven't seen any with the silver bodies and yellowish orange fins so figured I'd post here.


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## EBJD keeper (Jun 29, 2010)

Neolamprologus leleupi


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## nmcichlid-aholic (Mar 23, 2011)

Everything But The Coloration Looks Right For Leleupi. They May Get More yellow As They Mature, But You're Right - There Are Several different Color Variations That I've Seen.


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## tuna (Nov 8, 2004)

Neolamprologus mustax


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## Michael_S (Aug 18, 2013)

tuna said:


> Neolamprologus mustax


mustax are too tall to be this fish.


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## ILCichlid (Feb 27, 2012)

An update today after they have had the chance to settle down for 24 hours in the tank, One still looks just like in the picture but the other has turned a dark purplish grey color with the yellow fins, hard to get a picture of him though because he dives into a flower pot as soon as you get close.


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## nmcichlid-aholic (Mar 23, 2011)

As was mentioned before, there are a few differenent color variations of N. leleupi out there. Check out this image of an N. leleupi "midnight blue" that I found on Google - http://m2.i.pbase.com/u38/pschia/large/25285852.NeolamprologusleleupiMidnightBlue01m.jpg. Another interesting factor that may affect the coloration of leleupi is diet. See this article about breeding N. leleupi that I found on fmueller.com - http://www.fmueller.com/home/aquaristic/240g/fish/leleupi/. In the article he states:

_As an aside, in a personal communication Linda gave me some interesting information about leleupi breeding. Apparently to develop a nice color, leleupi fry need to be fed quality food with sufficient carotene. Failing that, they will remain the dreary brown color of very young leleupi fry. Furthermore, if due to substandard food the fry have not developed good color at a certain age, later improvement in the food quality will not enable them to gain color. If this is true, it sounds like a great subject for a scientific study._

I imagine that it's entirely possible that your fish have not been receiving an adequate diet to allow their best coloration to develop.


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## ILCichlid (Feb 27, 2012)

Yep, I thought about the diet thing being a factor but then the one turned a purplish grey which I have seen with the midnight blues but always the whole body being that color and not with yellow fins remaining. I'll keep an eye on them for a bit longer and see if them getting used to the diet causes them to settle in.


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## rennsport2011 (Oct 21, 2013)

It isn't a midnight blue, they have a different body shape, and aren't really leleupi.

This is just a poorly colored leleupi.


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## ILCichlid (Feb 27, 2012)

I disagree with the body shape comment










Has the same body shape.

But yes, I know it's not a midnight blue, the one I have just currently has a similiar body color to them but yellow fins.


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## rennsport2011 (Oct 21, 2013)

You can disagree if you'd like, but I've bred midnight blues. They have a more mustax like body, a shorter less elongate body than a leleupi does... They don't have the same body shape as the leleupi you've posted.


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## nmcichlid-aholic (Mar 23, 2011)

rennsport2011 said:


> You can disagree if you'd like, but I've bred midnight blues. They have a more mustax like body, a shorter less elongate body than a leleupi does... They don't have the same body shape as the leleupi you've posted.


So, just out of curiosity, did the "Midnight blues" that you bred have a scientific name? Were they Neo. mustax "Midnight blue", Neo. leleupi "Midnight blue", or something else? Are they a naturally occuring variant of some species, or is it a line-bred strain of a naturally occuring species (kind of like the German red peacock)? Or are they just hybrids?

I've never come across them, so I'd like to know...


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

nmcichlid-aholic said:


> rennsport2011 said:
> 
> 
> > You can disagree if you'd like, but I've bred midnight blues. They have a more mustax like body, a shorter less elongate body than a leleupi does... They don't have the same body shape as the leleupi you've posted.
> ...


There were two types of N. cf. "Leleupi" imported out of the congo about a decade ago. One was this "Midnight blue" another way a more non-descript grey type that was imported as young pectoralis, but clearly weren't. I kept and bred both. On page 84 of Konings tank book you can see a fish from Kapampa that isn't too dissimilar in body shape, but obviously different location. These fish lacked the _mustax_ facial markings. They aren't really _leleupi_ at all, but just some sort of closely related, undescribed species using the trade name "Leleupi".


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## nmcichlid-aholic (Mar 23, 2011)

Fogelhund said:


> nmcichlid-aholic said:
> 
> 
> > rennsport2011 said:
> ...


Interesting. I know we're getting away from the original topic here, but do they go by any other name besides "Midnight blue"? Has there been any effort to officially classify them as a separate species? I just want to know in case I were to come across them under a different name.


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