# please help id this Cyprichromis



## szolcichlid (Jun 29, 2006)

any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.


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## Charles (Feb 25, 2003)

My guess is Kitumba juv. on the second fish. I am not sure what the first one is.


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## szolcichlid (Jun 29, 2006)

just thought I'de update my thread with the answer. They are Cyprichromis Jumbo Tricolor. Just had the original purchaser finally e-mail me with the answer.


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## Furcifer158 (Feb 16, 2008)

From where? there are a few tricolors.
Just curious


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## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

The don't look like young Tricolors to me... 
They almost look like a blue orchid crossed with a tricolor or similar darker finned variant.

The yellow up front and blue behind says Blue Orchid...


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## szolcichlid (Jun 29, 2006)

all I know now is he called them Cyprichromis sp. "Leptosoma Jumbo" (Tricolor). He has the actual fish photographs of them posted on his website. I e-mailed again to find out the location point. Hopefully he will know (he is one of the big importers here in Toronto). I will post back when/if I found out.

Cheers,


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## szolcichlid (Jun 29, 2006)

by the way... the two photos above are the same fish! He just changes his colours every now and then.
:thumb:


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## szolcichlid (Jun 29, 2006)

I just received an e-mail that unfortunately said he was never told of the collection point. 


Oh well they are still beauties! They also look very similar to Cyprichromis sp. "Leptosoma Jumbo" (Mzwema) on the profiles site here.


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## noddy (Nov 20, 2006)

I'm looking at my tank with 18 blue orchid males and none of them have a dark blue anal fin. The anal fin is very light blue with yellow in there as well. I was going to say speckleback or kitumba.


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## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

I'm not trying to imply they are orchids...

There was a study of the jumbos in the South that showed more hybridization from one side of the lake to the opposite side than there was hybridization along the same shores... 
I just wonder if some blue orchids ended up on the opposite side from there usual haunt which would be tricolor area. Perhaps this is some odd ball? 
Did you purchase any other males in this same batch?


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## szolcichlid (Jun 29, 2006)

Hi all,

I have about 4 males/6 females and one of the males has a yellow tail! I was told this is common with Tricolors.

Cheers,


one more picture from a different angle.


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## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

can you get a photo of the yellow tail? I think it will help ID this guy...


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## szolcichlid (Jun 29, 2006)

I managed to get a few shots of him, but they are blurry. He likes to hang out at the back of the tank where there is less light. Let me know what you think.


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## cerissa (Mar 18, 2008)

Yep, those are juvie Cyprichromis Leptosoma Tricolor. Beautiful!!! :thumb:


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## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

The yellow tail certainly looks like a tri-color so I'd say that your first male is simply an oddball or wild caught hybrid.

I wouldn't keep fry from him and any female that chose him but stick to your more classic males.


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## Chris Murphy (Jun 24, 2008)

Give it some time before making any drastic breeding decisions.I had a Kitumba male that coloured up in odd blotch patterns (I was informed he was a hybrid back then),even different colours on his caudal fin.Upon maturity his colours suddenly switched on and he is an archetypal male Kitumba now (verified by many others),which makes me happy!

This was my experience,and I only add it in here to let you know of a possibility.The other guys testaments are in no way being poo poo'ed (dismissed)!


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## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

who mentioned anything drastic? :lol:

that "H" word always gets the most interesting posts afterwards...

Perhaps I should clarify my message... when making the choice about which fry to go to the expense of raising for sale and knowing how difficult it is to keep one's good name in this business, I personally would opt for the fry from the totally normal yellow tail instead of the different looking one. We are talking about a very prolific species after all...

hope that helps.


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## Chris Murphy (Jun 24, 2008)

The written word,it can get you into so much trouble.

I suppose its a common phrase,often drastically misused where I am from :lol:


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## aquamanstl (Jan 25, 2003)

I have the exact same looking group of Cyps and I was also told they were Cyprichromis Leptosoma Tricolors. Of my 5 Males, 1 also has a blue tail but the other 4 have a yellow tail. My group consists of 5 males and 4 females. I have 6 juveniles growing out as well with more fry on the way as one of my females is holding as of yesterday. When displaying, their color is extremely vibrant on their fins. Not much color in the heads for this variant.

Nick


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## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

aquamanstl said:


> Not much color in the heads for this variant.
> 
> Nick


 Tricolors have bright yellow heads... ok, so not every male will have the yellow head, but the whole name "tricolor" came from yellow/ non-yellow/ yellow tail.

I'm starting to wonder if someone lakeside isn't stopping off at mpimbwe instead of heading further south... or if there isn't more purple frost/ tricolor cross breeding going on in the lake than was thought.

We're all going to start looking a little ridiculous if we keep running around calling uni-colored fish three colored!!!! :lol:


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

When reading this thread, I was reminded of an article that I'd read in Cichlid News. In it, the author speaks of polymorphism within Cyprichromis:

_From the very fist importations of northern Cyprichromis microlepidotus, then C. leptosoma in the 1970's, I could easily observe the currently well-known peculiarity of this genus, namely the presence of at least two morphs (phases) amongst the males of a single population. One half of the males have a yellow caudal fin, while in the others, this fin is more of less blue, sharing this coloration with the dorsal. This true polymorphism, not to be confused with geographical variation, as it is found inside the same population, exists in all but one (C. zonatus) species in the genus. Sometimes, this polymorphism is not seen on the caudal fin, but is visible on the anal fin (C. pavo).

This polymorphism can reach extremes in some of the different "jumbo" forms. Among these, the population whose coloration is the most outstanding is the one from the central west coast, here named "brilliant jumbos". In this species, not only yellow-tailed individuals may have some parts of the dorsal fin or the body covered with yellow, but they may have their bodies wholly overwhelmed by this coloration. Moreover, this yellow coloration fluctuates throughout the individual's life, and may appear even in originally blue-tailed males. *On the other hand, "jumbos" from the east coast , with dull cephalic coloration, may develop even higher polymorphism, because while they do not change like the "brilliant" males, the "tricolor" males may present up to four distinct color morphs in the same population *(Konings, 2003)._

The Exquisite Cyprichromis from Kigoma, a "dwarf jumbo" by Partick Tawil, Cichlid News, January 2008

So, seems this is very common among cyps and I agree the "tricolor" label or any common names can only lead to confusion or the thinking that somehow one coloration is more 'pure' than another.

For me, I'd rather just have them be in my tanks like they are in the lake. I haven't kept cyps yet, but soon, I hope. And when I do, one thing I'm looking forward to now is to see this polymorphism first hand. In the article the author goes on to hypothesize on the possible functionality of this polymorphism. It's an interesting article, and I believe back issues are still available.


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## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

I've seen photos of all 4 morphs of the tricolors and the first pictured male doesn't match...

the closest match I could google up was this one... 
http://cichlidsandherps.net/id14.html

of course, tricolors do NOT come from Chaitika...


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

Great illustration of the problem of using common names. No rules, really. If someone pulls a 3 color 
fish from the lake, regardless of where, what's stopping them from calling it a tricolor if it has 3 colors? 
Now, if it didn't really come from Chaitika, then that's another issue. Gets confusing either way. Buy 
from reputable breeders, I guess. If I see sloppy listings on sites, or the overuse of common names in 
stock lists, to me it's a reason to avoid that source. You don't know if the sloppiness extends to their 
source or how deep it goes and then you just don't really know what you're getting for sure.

I'd prefer that just the scientific name with the collection point be used and let the colors be what they 
are. Drop the common names. The use of common names seems to be more prevalent in 
Cyprichromis than others from Tanganyika for whatever reason.

Just my .02


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## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

In this case, the importer sells em as they come in labeled, and I know he will correct obvious errors... (very solid guy IME, no names needed)

It's the not so cut and dry "errors" like the first male where I start of dismissing the fish as an oddball.

Where things get weird is when other folks come along with MORE of these oddballs or suggestions like tri-colors have very uncolorful heads that I begin to be concerned... what IS actually coming out of the lake and what are they being sold as... 3 yrs from now is it going to be as hard to go buy a Tricolor as it is to buy a Yellow lab?


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