# What do you think this is?



## Ichy (Oct 26, 2003)

any ideas what species this is ?


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## StructureGuy (Jul 27, 2002)

Pundamilia nyererei. 
Kevin


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## Ichy (Oct 26, 2003)

Thankyou Kevin ,

I should have included that I bought this fish as Harpagochromis sp. "golden duck". I have found a few pics online that seem to match . Those pics are naming the fish enterochromis sp. " red back scraper". I also found a short thread related to "red back scraper" that claimed there may be two vairants, one which looks very similar to flamebacks, while the other is a much darker fish. The later being more common in the USA 
The picture isnt a very good one, and while I do agree there is some resemblance to pundamilla nyereri I think the coloration is completely different from any nyereri I have ever seen. The fish is still very young and only about 2" or so . Maybe it'll be more evident what it is after it grows some more.

thanks again


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## StructureGuy (Jul 27, 2002)

Ichy said:


> The fish is still very young and only about 2" or so . Maybe it'll be more evident what it is after it grows some more.


If you use color as your primary method to identify Victorians you will have a tough time unless they are males in full breeding dress.

It is obviously not a golden duck. Red back Scrapers don't have vertical stripes. Time will tell if I'm right about the nyererei ID. But I will bet that he will eventually get that red or orange color below the dorsal fins. Young nyererei often look similar to your picture.

Let us know what you find out as he matures. Here's one of my young ones:









Kevin


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## Ichy (Oct 26, 2003)

Thanks Kevin,
I have found a few other pictures online now that are very similar and listed as being pundamilia species . Pundamilia pundamilia seems the closest so far. As far as my thinking it could be a red back scraper, I have seen pictures of red back scrapers with the verticle barring. Being fairly new to keeping victorians , I am amazed at the amount of confusion and mislabled fish I've seen in a very short period of time. So perhaps the photos I have seen are not truely red back scrapers. I do plan on  visiting the seller again within the next few months, I'll try to get a better look at his adult fish , and maybe even a picture if he will allow it. 
I do really like this fish and already I have two females holding. It would really be even better if i could get an ID on them. While still a colorful interesting fish they are not what I usualuy see as far as Vic go. I see lots of " olbiquidens", often see nyereri with lots of yellow and red ,occasional rock kribs , ruby greens,and flame backs. None if them are as dark as whatever this one is and the dark colors with the metalic shines of blue green and purple are really appealing to me. 
Is it possible that younger red back scrapers show more barring , as I have seen feignt barring in some pics in an article by Greg Steeves on cichlid room companion.
I just hope that it is not some hybrid as I had hoped to barter and sell the fry from them .
Thanks again

PS I'm leaning very heavily towards P pundamilia now


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## Ichy (Oct 26, 2003)

Good greif! 
Another possible ID could be the fine bar scraper, the pic on the profiles section of this site is EXTREMELY close. The profile also comments that the species is Highly prolific. The fact that I have two females holding both of them only about 1" and within days after moving them shows how prolific these are .


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## patrickeriksson (May 26, 2007)

You can rule out red back scraper. As far as I know Haplochromis sp. "red back scraper" has only been found once (1991), and all fish currently available descends from one single brooding female that was collected. 
Even though you can see some faint vertical bars on red back scrapers they are closer together and go all from the top to bottom. The bodyshape is different as well.

The fish in the picture looks a bit more slender than a nyererei but I still put my 5 cents on P. nyererei. A better picture would help


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## dementedarego (May 8, 2008)

the Golden Ducks I had looked very similar to that, although the get darker the older they get.

Here is a pic of my former dominant male, sorry for the dirty glass.

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm28 ... sh/GD3.jpg


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## dementedarego (May 8, 2008)

Ohhh yeah, my male was 2.5" at the time of that pic.


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## StructureGuy (Jul 27, 2002)

This is what a "golden duck" * should* look like:

http://www.hillcountrycichlidclub.com/a ... n_duck.pdf










An elongated fish with a very pointed "face"


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## Ichy (Oct 26, 2003)

Well I tihnk I have it now
http://www.livescience.com/php/multimed ... den&title=

looks like pundamilia pundamilia too me

anyone agree that is a possibilty


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## StructureGuy (Jul 27, 2002)

This is Pundamilia pundamilia:

http://www.hillcountrycichlidclub.com/a ... milia2.pdf


















Kevin


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## Ichy (Oct 26, 2003)

Well it's been a few weeks , but I do think that is pretty darn close to what the father fish looked like. Also the females I have appear to match the females in the link I posted. They do not look very much like the female nyereri picture at all. However can I be sure that the pics in that link are acurate?
Thanks for posting so many pictures and helping me try to figure thisone out . Do you have any pictures of the females of both the nyereri and the pundamilia. I think the differances in appearance may be easier to detect ni the females in this case.
thanks 
Tim


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

Pundamilia Crimson Tide??


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