# Johannii or Maingano? and Mystery Fish



## shocker4221 (Aug 7, 2009)

I got these fish from a friend of a friend and was told the blue ones were Johannii and the other was a Mbenji. The blue one may be a Johannii but I would like to know for sure and I haven't found anything similar to the other one.


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## MalawiLover (Sep 12, 2006)

_Melanochromis johanni_ females are orange, while both sexes of _Melanochronis cyaneorhabdos_ (Maingano, also called Electric Blue johanni just to be confusing) are the blue and black. Any idea on the sex(es)? Unfortunately if the "johanni" is male, then it is just about impossible to tell if its truly a johanni or a maingano

The :Mbenji" could be a _Pseudotropheus sp_. "Elongatus Mbenji Brown" but I don't know how common they are in your area.


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## shocker4221 (Aug 7, 2009)

The one pictured above is a male, I had another one that came with him but the aggression was really high and needed to get rid of him. What little info i did get from the person who bought these fish is that he ordered them online from a dealer.


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## MalawiLover (Sep 12, 2006)

Online dealers are usually (not always, but usually) more reliable with their labeling than LFS and the box places, so since as a male in adult colors its impossible to tell visually I would go with what you were told on the johanni.

I've checking the profile, I I still think _Pseudotropheus sp._ "Elongatus Mbenji Brown" best suits the other fish.


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## shocker4221 (Aug 7, 2009)

If it is not a Johannii, and I get Johannii females, will they breed? I looked at the Psuedotropheis Elongatus Mbenju Brown and they do look very similar though all the pictures that I have seen only shows them as a brown color and mine turns somewhat of a purple color at times. I may have to get rid of him because I can't be 100% on what he his and I've also had problems locating a dealer online where I can order them.


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## ladybugzcrunch (Jul 26, 2009)

Any mbuna mouthbrooder with breed with any mbuna mouthbrooder; if there is none of its own kind to breed with it will breed with another species.


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## MalawiLover (Sep 12, 2006)

shocker4221 said:


> If it is not a Johannii, and I get Johannii females, will they breed?


Most likely yes. johanni X maingano have shown up in the hobby, though since their females are very different color from each other, (johanni-orange, maingano-blue and black) they would be less likely to cross than say johanni and interruptus (both having orange females) but the chances are still there.

Unfortunately since maingano are often sold under the trade name of electric blue johanni, technically the guy you got them from could mean either by saying the are johanni.

I suppose if you were to get a couple of female johanni and the fry all came out orange you could be pretty sure the male is johanni. If the fry were all either bluish or really dirty looking it would follow that the male was maingano, but I haven't tried that experiment myself so I don't know how true that would be.


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