# WC Lithochromis rufus spawn



## patrickeriksson

After almost one year the WC Lithochromis rufus finally spawned. Now I just hope that both of them really are Lithochromis rufus. I won't be selling any of the fry for sure but instead raise them and see how they turn out.


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## css virginia

Nice colors on that fish. Congrats on the spawning.!! 8)


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## alanastar

what a beauty 

you do take a great picture :thumb:

paul


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## nick a

Excellent! All of us in this area are taking the same approach with the various types that were offered with that shipment.


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## patrickeriksson

The female released the fry a few days ago, about 20 in total.

She has an old injury on her lower lip that prevents her from completely closing her mouth. I was worried that this would prevent her from proper brooding, but everything worked out just fine. Quite funny actually to see how the fry is using this as a small "window".


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## exasperatus2002

Awesome pics & congrats on your spawn.


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## blairo1

:drooling: Fantastic photos and what a stunning fish! I like keeping my eye on this forum but rarely post, I had to say something about that male though, just superb.


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## nick a

Fantastic! Can't wait until you get some confirmation after growout.


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## Dewdrop

WOW gorgeous pics and beautiful fish :thumb:


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## samaki

hi Patrick 
the pics yu took are excellents, I do think that this fish is more likely Lithochromis rubripinnis than rufus but yur's are just beautiful.
congrats
xris


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## patrickeriksson

Thank you 

The pictures I have seen of the Lithochromis rubripinnis sold in Europe does not look even a little bit similar. Unless the European rubripinnis is mislabeled, it can not be the same fish.

I will check if I have a more recent picture of the male. He is much more red now.


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## patrickeriksson

Here is a more recent picture of the male. I can't see how this could be a Lithochromis rubripinnis?


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## gordonrp

No idea what they are, but they are both truly stunning! love the pic of the fry looking out of momma's mouth.


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## Frontlover

Hello,

Sweet looking fish wow  It does look like the Lithochromis Rufus, there is an article on them
in the Buntbarsche Bulletin which I receive monthly with my membership to the ACA American Cichlid Assosiation. This article is about how they are extinct in the wild. Try www.cichlid.org you might be able to find some info and photo there.


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## StructureGuy

Frontlover said:


> This article is about how they are extinct in the wild.


Not exactly. Patricks cichlid is either one of the recently imported wild caughts or it is an F1, I believe.

Kevin


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## patrickeriksson

StructureGuy said:


> Frontlover said:
> 
> 
> 
> This article is about how they are extinct in the wild.
> 
> 
> 
> Not exactly. Patricks cichlid is either one of the recently imported wild caughts or it is an F1, I believe.
> 
> Kevin
Click to expand...

Correct, it's the fish that old world imported I think it was August or September last year. They were sold as Lithochromis rufus but I know there was a lot of confusion as the fish was not properly sorted at the location. Now the question is not only what species the _male_ is, but if the male and female are of the same kind. For the record I can inform you that the male is pretty big, I'd say close to 5 inches, and the female is at least 3 inches.


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## samaki

Hi
L.rufus and rubripinnis do share some parts of their distribution and where L.rufus is absent, yu may find a red form of L.rubripinnis It's for that reason that knowing the exact place where they're caught is the most truly manner to know who they are.
xris


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## patrickeriksson

In Ole Seehousen's book "Lake Victoria Rock Cichlids", where Lithochromis rufus and Lithochromis rubripinnis are described as Haplochromis "red pseudonigricans" and "blue pseudonigricans", it says on page 134 where "red pseudonigricans" is described;

_"It is readily possible to tell this species apart from the reddish morph of H. "blue pseudonigricans". The red in H. "red pseudonigricans" is ventrally oriented and does not reach the upper dorsum. In contrast, the red in the red morph of its sibling species is dorsally oriented, and in fact restricted to the dorsum and the dorsal fin"._

There is also a picture on page 133 that looks pretty identical to my fish, with the exception that the fish in the book has a slightly concave head profile while my fish head profile is straight. But according to the book both exist.

The above is what makes me beleive that the species I have is indeed Lithochromis rufus, at least the male, and possibly the female as well since it appears that the red morph of rubripinnis only exists where fufus does not (provided that they were collected at the same location which we probably never will find out).

Am I missing something here or is the information in Ole Seehousen's book not correct?


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## samaki

Hi patrick 
Yur male seems to fit the rufus morph, that's clear for me.
We also have fishes in France from the same shipment(bought as L.rufus), and the males when not dominant exhibit a blue body color, possibly the two species were caught and exported in the same shipment but if this appears to be true we'll never know wether we have the true rufus females or the rubripinnis females knowing that the segragation between the Lithochromis females is very subtile and yu can't find a picture of any of the Lithochromis females in Olee's book except one of the orange form from Sozihe. See no offense in this, we'll have to be sure if we have the true species. that's all  
xris


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## blairo1

Whatever it may be, it is truly a beautiful fish and I'm amazed more people in the hobby don't keep them.

:thumb:


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## patrickeriksson

samaki said:


> Hi patrick
> Yur male seems to fit the rufus morph, that's clear for me.
> We also have fishes in France from the same shipment(bought as L.rufus), and the males when not dominant exhibit a blue body color, possibly the two species were caught and exported in the same shipment but if this appears to be true we'll never know wether we have the true rufus females or the rubripinnis females knowing that the segragation between the Lithochromis females is very subtile and yu can't find a picture of any of the Lithochromis females in Olee's book except one of the orange form from Sozihe. See no offense in this, we'll have to be sure if we have the true species. that's all
> xris


No offense taken  
I appreciate any effort to make sure the fish we keep are pure. I will keep this thread live by posting pictures of the fry as they grow.

The growth rate is excellent and here is a first picture of a fry that is now a little bit over 1cm.


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## patrickeriksson

The fry has grown very fast and are now approximately 1.75" and the males have started to color. The males look like a copy of their father, just not so colorful yet.


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## nick a

While we can all wish for 'absolutes' as far as provenance, we can also all agree that that is a stunning fish form! (great pics btw!)


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## deadman

great job! they are #2 on my want list.
keep the strain pure.


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## patrickeriksson

A short video clip of the WC male


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## ds1196

That's a fantastic fish, Patrick! I'm glad you were able to get a spawn out of them. I brought in 22 of them, and never got a thing out of them. Let me know if you ever decide to sell/trade any of them! :wink:


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## esben

Super nice pictures, Patrick


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