# Please, help to identify my new aulonocara!



## Veterok7777

Hello,
Here is the aulonocara I purchased last weekend, but I neither salemen or I have any clue what type of aulonocara he is.
He is very dark, almost black. Look at the photos and let me know what you, guys, think.

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w245/Veterok7777/N1.jpg
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w245/Veterok7777/N3.jpg
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w245/Veterok7777/N4.jpg
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w245/Veterok7777/N5.jpg
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w245/Veterok7777/N6.jpg

Thank you.


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## Boomr99

I'm certainly no expert, but my first guess is it may be a hybrid of 2 types of peacock. At least that is my #1 concern when a store employee can't tell me what species of fish I'm looking at.

But there are a few that are that dark.
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/s ... hp?id=1416
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/s ... php?id=638

Also, if it is a new fish, it may have darkened itself until it establishes it's "rank" in your tank. Was it the same coloration at the store? It may brighten up.


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## Veterok7777

Thanks for your response.
Yes, the fish was as dark in the store as it is now in my tank. It is dark, but still pretty attractive and I like it very much.
In most of the LFS I visit the employees get very confused once it gets to identifying Malawi aulonocaras, so in most cases I do not ever rely on them.
I also browsed this site and checked every available photo of aulonocaras, but could not really find anyone looking the same or very close.


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## xclub

This fish looks very pretty and my suggestion is , no matter what keep it.

If you plan to spawn it I suggest to do it with Aulonocara maylandi fry coloration variant (with a little bit yellow on the top) could be very nice.

I know that many cichlid lovers do not approve hybrids and specially to encourage spawning more hybrids, but if you are not going to sell them/distribute them go for it.

There is a good chance that you will have a wonderful fish and that many of your friend would love to have one&#8230;

Mixing species can provide a very nice and beautiful fish


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## Gibbs

I must admit that is a very nice looking fish you picked up. To me there is a very good chance that he is some sort of Hansbaenshi red shoulder hybrid, just judging by the small amount of red coloration that he has on his front fins and just behind his gill plate.
May even be pure, he is a little dark though. 
Keep him love him he looks unreal.


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## Veterok7777

Thank you, guys, for you compliments to my new fish.
Yes, you are right â€" he looks unusual and unreal, and I love him, and Iâ€™m keeping him for 100%.
He adds a nice additional contrast color to my yellow lab/aulonocara rubescens/electric blue hap tank.
And he is smart. Usually for new fish I buy it takes them about a week to adopt to my tank (their new home), but already next day this guy started to swim in my aquarium like he used to live here his whole life 
Iâ€™m really sorry that I was not able to capture a really high quality photo of himâ€¦ you know it is so hard to catch those cichlids frozen for a couple of seconds.


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## F8LBITEva

very pretty, definitely a keeper.


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## Rift485

I will say Hansbaenschi Red Shoulder. I have a Red Shoulder that looks almost identical in shape and color with just more red in the shoulder area. He also has retained the near black coloration in the body which I have grown to love. Could always be a hybrid too, but I'd lean toward Red Shoulder


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## Veterok7777

Well, still skeptical. Here are more photos, and as you can see there no signs of red on his shoulder (he is about 5 inch already).


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## BenHugs

With the red on the bottom fins I would say he has a little cobue background?????


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## Xenomorph

Cobue hybrid. I still think the shots are too dark and if you please take a couple more, but yes, Cobue's my guess.



xclub said:


> This fish looks very pretty and my suggestion is , no matter what keep it.
> 
> If you plan to spawn it I suggest to do it with Aulonocara maylandi fry coloration variant (with a little bit yellow on the top) could be very nice.
> 
> I know that many cichlid lovers do not approve hybrids and specially to encourage spawning more hybrids, but if you are not going to sell them/distribute them go for it.
> 
> There is a good chance that you will have a wonderful fish and that many of your friend would love to have oneâ€¦
> 
> Mixing species can provide a very nice and beautiful fish


Dude, you gotta be kidding me. First you suggest to breed it and than you don't agree with hybrids. The fish he has is not worthy of being bred. Come on people. There's 800+ species in the Malawi lake, what do we need more for.

*sigh*


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## wedrnkbeer

Am I the only one who see's some Copadichromis Boryeli in this fish?


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## Rift485

A pic with the flash on would probably help


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## Veterok7777

Ok, here is another shot. Without flash, but still you can see that he is not truly black, it's just his coloration.


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## Veterok7777

Xenomorph, honestly I would love to breed this guy, but I want to keep the same coloration. In order to keep this coloration I would need to find his female (which comes to be nearly to impossible).
Everybody who has seen this fish loves it. It is very attractive, and whatâ€™s most important â€" very unusual, so an extra beautiful line of fish is gonna hurt.


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## BenHugs

still looks very cobue peacock too me. try breeding it with a female cobue it might lighten up a little, but cobues can be quite dark


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## Veterok7777

Ok, finally here is a photo with flash.
As you can see even with flash this fish looks kinds dark


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## Desi&lt;3

OMG looks like the S. fryrie (or something spelled like that LOL) people told me I had!


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## Xenomorph

Veterok7777 said:


> Xenomorph, honestly I would love to breed this guy, but I want to keep the same coloration. In order to keep this coloration I would need to find his female (which comes to be nearly to impossible).
> Everybody who has seen this fish loves it. It is very attractive, and whatâ€™s most important â€" very unusual, so an extra beautiful line of fish is gonna hurt.


Believe me there's way better looking fish that's worth breeding and as our friend here mentioned he really looks like a Sciaenochromis fryeri hybrid.


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## Veterok7777

No way! I have Sciaenochromis fryeri (which is an Electric Blue hap) in my tank. They look totally different. I agree, your hap looks dark, but still....
As I said before â€" my new fish is Aulonocara, not a hap.

And here is a photo of my electric blue hap:


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## Veterok7777

And on this photo you can partially see my electric blue hap in the bottom right corner.
My aulonocara is way darker.


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## Desi&lt;3

It looks like a S. hybrid.

It would not be full blood anything because of the hap face and peacock body.

No matter what I wouldnt breed it with anything because of the hybridization that would occure and eventualy destroy other pure blood lines in the future. DO NOT BREED THEM W/ ANYTHING!


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## Number6

Veterok, the problem with trying to breed a true breeding bloodline from your single specimen is that these fish of mixed origin do NOT breed true even if you found a female of the same mix.

It would take time, many tanks, and some dedicated effort to create a new breed. By one estimate I planned out in MS Excel, I came up with a bare minimum of 8 aquariums would be needed to take some sport or hyrbid and fix it.

So when you talk about breeding the hybrid into a new breed, you can probably now understand some peoples reluctance to go along with the plan. You will end up with a great many "other" phenotypes that would would have to cull (either kill or sell) in order to fix these peacock/fryeri like traits with this dark appearance. Not too many avid hobbyists are going to be fond of you killing or selling tons of cichlids just to create something that looks pretty much like a darker turkis peacock (also a man made breed).

Lots of luck to you if you do proceed. Post back and let us know how things are going by the 5 or 6th generation. :thumb:


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## Rift485

It really just looks like a Regal or Cobue Peacock to me, perhaps a hybrid of the two. That face doesn't scream Hap to me. There will never be a way to say with 100% accuracy what your fish is, though to me it looks just like all the other "blue" Peacocks out there (Stuartgranti type). Like I mentioned, I have a very dark Hansbaenschi Red Shoulder Peacock, but I don't think anyone would call it a hybrid just because of its shade










Some Peacocks have a lighter base gray/brown and some have a darker base. All that says to me is that yours has a dark base color and less blue in the body to cover it up.


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## Desi&lt;3

I would have to agree w/ number6 there really is no point in it!


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## Veterok7777

No worries, people. Iâ€™m not breeding him.
That was just a crazy thought.


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## Desi&lt;3

K well I just dot see an all peacock there!

There is something different about his body and face that throws it off for me!


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## Veterok7777

Really? You do not see peacock on this photo?
In my opinion he looks 100% peacock


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## Number6

the overall head AND body profile looks sleeker than expected for true peacocks. The overall shape is not too thin for a peacock, but it is easily explained if fryeri were mixed in... hence the guesses.

Hope that helps.


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## Desi&lt;3

Yes I see SOME peacock in him but not ALL!

Like I said there is SOMETHING about him that is too different to be all peacock.


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