# Need some help with the identification - Malawi Cichlids



## woolphy (Jan 15, 2009)

Hello to all and goot to see you here,

I'm having some problems identifing 4 cichlids in my tank. If you could please look at the photos and tell me your opinion about what you think they are, i would be very thankfull.

I should mention that my lightning has 3 x Phillips Aquarelle(18w) so fish 1 and fish 3 are in fact brown with a blue tint more than blue with a brown tint. The seller said these fish were Labidochromis sp. "Hongi" and Metriaclima greshakei. 
I'm interested in knowing the species and the gender of the fish.

Fish 1:
http://i479.photobucket.com/albums/rr16 ... C00001.jpg
http://i479.photobucket.com/albums/rr16 ... C00002.jpg
http://i479.photobucket.com/albums/rr16 ... G_6289.jpg

Fish 2:
http://i479.photobucket.com/albums/rr16 ... G_6285.jpg
http://i479.photobucket.com/albums/rr16 ... G_6313.jpg

Fish 3: 
http://i479.photobucket.com/albums/rr16 ... C00007.jpg
http://i479.photobucket.com/albums/rr16 ... G_6299.jpg
http://i479.photobucket.com/albums/rr16 ... G_6307.jpg

Fish 4:
http://i479.photobucket.com/albums/rr16 ... C00029.jpg
http://i479.photobucket.com/albums/rr16 ... G_6308.jpg

Thank you very much for your time


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## 24Tropheus (Jun 21, 2006)

I see no Labidochromis sp. "Hongi"
I see Metriaclima greshakei or a similar type, maybe a couple of hybrids.
Sorry but I do not think any of these are pure anything.
I could be wrong.


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## noki (Jun 13, 2003)

The "greshakei" looks like a hybrid of a greshakei or similar fish

Many do look similar to Labidochromis "Hongi" or "Mbamba", but it is hard to be sure. Heck, they could be a mix of these two species.


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## etcbrown (Nov 10, 2007)

Agreed, fish #2 looks very, very similar to a male greshakei...........but is not a perfect example. Could be a hybrid or perhaps even the fact that it appears to be very old.

The other 3 fish certainly have many characteristics of labidochromis hongi and also mbamba, but in a mixed sort of sense. That more than likely points to hybridization. To be fair, I have seen labidochromis hongi that look very much like that when they were very low in the pecking order in a tank, i.e. being chased constantly.


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## xantar (Jan 10, 2009)

there is no mbamba. Fish #3 looks more like a Hongi than the others, and may be a female or subdom male. Fish #1 looks sort of like a Hongi, but subdom colors. Mbamba tend to have ,what I call, "sharp" dorsal and anal fins, while hongis are more rounded. Mbamba's don't have the red or orange on the forehead like hongis do. Fish #4 could be hybrid. I'm not positive on any.


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