# Still looking for petro ID



## NorthShore (Feb 3, 2006)

Bought these a while ago under the trade name "blue kaiser". What do you think? I'm thinking hybrid possibly....

_click on pic to enlarge _


----------



## colinrobinson (Nov 15, 2007)

I'm not sure about your fish as I'm into mbuna right now but they have nice color and im assuming that like mbuna hybrids they would be a lot more dull.


----------



## Staszek (Dec 18, 2006)

They are not the Blue Kaiser/Famlua Blue Fin.

I don't know what they are, but they do have Famula in them.


----------



## NorthShore (Feb 3, 2006)

colinrobinson said:


> I'm not sure about your fish as I'm into mbuna right now but they have nice color and im assuming that like mbuna hybrids they would be a lot more dull.


Yes, they're decent looking, but I just can't get an ID on this continent or in Europe. :?



Staszek said:


> They are not the Blue Kaiser/Famlua Blue Fin.
> 
> I don't know what they are, but they do have Famula in them.


Thanks for looking. They're starting to spawn and I guess any fry will be snack food until I can figure this out.


----------



## daniel4832 (May 8, 2004)

They are absolutely beautiful, one of the most colorful Petro's I have seen! Can you get more information about them from where you aquired them? It just seems a shame for the fry to become "fishfood" before making sure of what they are. Why is the idea of hybrid the first idea presented, rather then a new variety of Petro? Do we think we have seen all of the different varieties of Petros from the lake? These are still a very rarely collected, and kept fish in the hobby. I don't claim any special knowledge, but I would hate to lose to the hobby, what I consider, one of the most magnificence looking Petros I have seen a picture of! :drooling: before all the facts are in. I would personally like to know if the fry end up looking like their parents. I hope you can spare a tank, and some time, to find out more about these fish, before you turn them into "fishfood". It's what I would do if I were in your position! :wink: 
Thanks,
Daniel


----------



## NorthShore (Feb 3, 2006)

Thanks, Daniel. I found out they came from Fishes of Burundi and I tried contacting them sometime ago with no acknowledgment of my email. I even wrote in french since the contact person is a frenchman. It's quite possible that the distributor in Florida told my supplier less than the truth, but I doubt it. The distributor has an excellent reputation.

I mention hybrid because I have asked on several forums, both on this continent and in Europe and no on can identify them. There's a chance they are a new variant, but then you'd think someone else would recognize them? Sure, it's not fair to suggest that everyone who owns petros is on the net. What I"ve heard is that they look like famula, but not the variants that are in the hobby or even in Ad Konings books.

I have not stripped any females because it's not easy catching a single fish in a 180 gallon, and I don't see much point in raising fry when I don't even know what the parents are.

But considering your passion for these guys, I'll do my best to save some fry. :wink:

These pics don't even really show how nice they are. You can't see the yellow in the dorsal fin and the males turn their colours off when the flash starts going. I'll see if I can get more pics. Maybe a zoom and sitting 10 feet away will help. 

Gerry


----------



## daniel4832 (May 8, 2004)

Gerry,
Being luckly enough to live close by to ApexPredator, I have been able to see quite a number of different Petros, and I'm even raising a f1 group from him. But let's be honest, on the whole while Petros are a very interesting fish to keep, they are also big, mean, and (OK I won't say ugly) not as colorful as their smaller cousins the Tropheus. And before everyone starts yelling at me, yes there are exceptions, a full grown P. "Luagala" may one of the most beautiful fish their is! But they are the exceptions not the rule. My point is when there is such a colorful Petro, as the one you were so kind to share pictures of, I would hate to see it disappear just because you/we couldn't get information on them! Keep e-mailing the Frenchman, see if the Florida distributor (Laif?) can get some more informtion. Anything I can do to help? Your fish really "hooked"(sorry) me! :thumb: 
Thanks,
Daniel


----------



## ApexPredator (Jan 12, 2004)

Interesting color pattern. Defenitly Famula, though you already know that. 

I remember seeing some Famula with red dorsals and pectorals a while back. Its possible they could be a hybrid of those and another famula type.

As long as you enjoy them I see no need to get rid of any of them. Probably best to work through your supplier to help ID.

A few years back I recieved a quad of "Longola" that had 1 large male longola and several mixed petro females. I understand your pain as it took me a long time to figure out what I actually got. In that case it wasnt the suppliers fault, it was the person who shipped them from Africa. Apparantly they were cleanining out their leftovers or didnt think anybody would notice. Not say thats the case with you but it does happen.

Wish I could help more with the ID. Perhaps if you sent me some fry I could get a better look? :lol: j/k


----------



## NorthShore (Feb 3, 2006)

Thanks for chiming in, Leigh. I've got 20 of these guys, so there's a potential for this group to be a functional colony.

I'm planning on going to the ACA next summer so I could throw a bag of fry into the van if you're going as well. 

Gerry


----------



## vepeta (Feb 27, 2005)

I have the same fish. It is a Petro Famula Nyanza-Lac. Your pictures are a little doctored or effected by flash, notice how the orange in the mouth is as bright as the fins in pic 2
I suck at taking pics and he is colored down in pic. I only have a pair with fry mixed with other petros for about 3 years I bought a group 14 of wild caught from Atlantis in NY that ended up dwindling down to a pair. When he mates his colors are exactly like yours. He is rough on his female but, they get along alright.


----------



## vepeta (Feb 27, 2005)

Daniel these fish were gonna be delivered to you a few months ago and you turned them down!


----------



## NorthShore (Feb 3, 2006)

Thanks, vepeta! :dancing:

(The pics aren't doctored. It's the effect of flash from above and the fish being high in the water column. The flash can blast right through the roof of the mouth. )

Daniel, what a shame.


----------



## lloyd (Aug 24, 2005)

nice match, vepeta. Gerry's fry just went up in value for sure. :lol:


----------



## NorthShore (Feb 3, 2006)

lloyd said:


> nice match, vepeta. Gerry's fry just went up in value for sure. :lol:


LOL! And to think I was considering dumping the entire group for next to nothing!


----------



## RayQ (Sep 26, 2007)

Nice to see a happy ending with all of the "hybrid" suggestions/questions floating around lately. :thumb:

Ray


----------



## ApexPredator (Jan 12, 2004)

Awesome job pinning them down. Just goes to show haw arbitrary pictures on the internet can be. :lol:

Great looking fish either way guys.


----------



## pettapettro (Nov 22, 2008)

petrochromis famula mpimbwe is close !!!

but i am kind of sure this is a mix famula tembwe & famula orange fin

it could actually also be orig famula orange fin all people look diffren and so do the fishes they got personal look as we

best regards peter stockholm sweden


----------



## Dave (Feb 9, 2003)

vepeta said:


> I have the same fish. It is a Petro Famula Nyanza-Lac.


I had some fry from this variant. That was the first thing that came to my mind when I saw the pics.


----------

