# My Mystery Fish



## LittleFrog (Jun 28, 2006)

Hi there, my local fish club has an interesting contest going. We have all received a single fish, they were all around an inch when we got them, give or take a bit. Spencer Jack of Afishionados supplied them. We don't know what kind of fish they are, Spencer won't tell us a thing, lol. We'll be growing them out for the next 6 months, and at the end all fish will be measured and whoever grows the biggest fish wins the contest! The fish are starting to color up now, and everyone's been speculating as to what kind of cichlid it is. I finally got some halfway decent pictures, so what do you guys think? All we know for sure at this point is that it's a Central American Cichlid, they are not hybrids, and Spencer promised us something relatively rare. I've named mine Diablo, lol. Here are the pics:


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## bernie comeau (Feb 19, 2007)

It is definately a midas cichlid type fish. An Amphilophus species. Which particular strain (or species ) I really couldn't tell you. My guess would be A. labiatus because of the slender body shape and the apearance of the mouth.


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## LittleFrog (Jun 28, 2006)

Cool, that's what everyone in the contest has been thinking as well. i thought I'd post here, see how accurate we all were!  He/she is such a little character, 3 inches and so much personality already!


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## con-man-dan (Aug 19, 2006)

Labiatus? Rare? LoL not exactly a rare fish when you can find them at nearly every semi-decent (and big box stores) LFS in the....world.

Great looking fish though, it will be interesting to see how it looks as it grows.


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## LittleFrog (Jun 28, 2006)

Well, the species may not be rare, but from what I've read, getting a pure Labiatus is.  They're not at all common around here either, so rare can be relative.


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## terd ferguson (Jul 31, 2007)

Amphilophus lyonsi? They're endangered in the wild.


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## dwarfpike (Jan 22, 2008)

A pure Labiatus would be one of the rarest fish in the hobby. That's what it appears to be.


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## LittleFrog (Jun 28, 2006)

Very cool! Not that it really matters to me, I totally love the little guy/girl already, but I've never owned anything remotely uncommon before, so would be fun. I can't wait for him/her to get nice and big, lol. My Green Terrors are the biggest fish I've owned so far. How big do they need to get before you can sex them?


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## SinisterKisses (Feb 24, 2004)

Amphilophus nourissati is my assumption. He's been carrying them for some time, size is about right, and he's got a ton of them. He also lists them as "very rare" on his stock list. The other possibility is Amphilophus hogaboomorus, but I'm almost positive it's the nourissati.


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## dwarfpike (Jan 22, 2008)

I think you could rule out nourissati. The head profile is way to sleek and Amphilophus like, not rounded like nourissati. Plus the lack of the blue eye, and nourris at that size have adult coloration, which is green, olive and brown. I deffinately believe it to be one of the Amphilophus and not Astatheros (ie robertsoni, nourissati, ect ect).

Amphilophus hogaboomorus is deffinately a possiblity. Wrong colors for lyonsi.


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## bernie comeau (Feb 19, 2007)

It is most definately a midas cichlid-type fish ( Amphilophus species) and is certainly not a sand -sifting Astatoheros species (nourissati, longimanus, robertsoni etc.). Body shape, snout and mouth do not fit for an Astatoheros species at all.

I suppose A. labiatus could be considered rare as PURE A. labiatus is uncommon in the hobby. But the midas cichlid complex is already at least 7-8 described species not to mention all the others that are undescribed and are called Amphilophus sp. ---------. They are all VERY similar fishes and are not easily distinguished, especially at a young age. Questionable to me whether these fishes should even be considered as numerous seperate species rather then just regional variants and different strains. A. hogaboomorous is definately a possibility although I doubt the coloration fits. But there are so many others that would be called Amphilophus sp. -------- from locations I have never heard of, that are virtually the same fish as A. labiatus.


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## Nathan43 (Jul 9, 2007)

Beautiful fish, what ever it is exactly, it's nice!


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## terd ferguson (Jul 31, 2007)

SinisterKisses said:


> Amphilophus nourissati is my assumption. He's been carrying them for some time, size is about right, and he's got a ton of them. He also lists them as "very rare" on his stock list. The other possibility is Amphilophus hogaboomorus, but I'm almost positive it's the nourissati.


I think nourissati has a very different mouth profile although your reasoning seems sound. Check out this lyonsi...










I guessed lyonsi simply because they're endangered which would make them pretty rare, but I think the mouth and lips scream labiatus. But, I'm far frorm an Amphilophus expert. Whatever it is, it's awesome for sure.


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## zoyvig (Oct 27, 2006)

Diablo is a very beautiful specimen! I hope you keep us updated on its growth.

It looks A.Labiatus to me, but I have learned that looks can be deceiving after keeping them for 44 years. My first pure Labiatus was purchased in 1965 and it was until the end of the 1990's and the internet that I found another one. Between those periods I had dozens of "Red Devils" that were mostly Citrinellum (Midas). In the last 10 years I have bought 10 wild Labiatus and a number of F1 from reputable dealers. I've also bought a number of Labiatus from "reputable" dealers that turned out to not be Labiatus.

To me they are "RARE"

Yours is extremely beautiful. I hope it doesn;t go through a major color morph.


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## LittleFrog (Jun 28, 2006)

Well, Diablo's doing very well, eating like a pig, lol. He's getting alot more orange on the body now, his bars are mostly gone. I snapped some new pics last night, as well as a couple of short videos of him trying to get through the divider at the other fish. The cories on the other side really seem to like teasing him, lol.










































And the videos:
http://s119.photobucket.com/albums/o150/LittleFrog_01/Fish/?action=view&current=RedDevil010.flv
http://s119.photobucket.com/albums/o150/LittleFrog_01/Fish/?action=view&current=RedDevil005.flv


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## LittleFrog (Jun 28, 2006)

Well, Diablo is now a solid 4" long, and is turning into quite the feisty boy. I vented him and I'm pretty sure he's a boy, though it's my first time venting, so I could be wrong, lol. The bigger he grows, the more certain I and the others in the contest are that we have Red Devils.

I moved him into my 75 gallon tonight with some Honduran Red Point fry and the last of my Green Terror fry as dithers, and he is loving it, already laying down the law, showing everyone who's boss, lol.

I managed to snap a couple of new pictures of Diablo. Sorry for the cloudy water. I had to rip everything out of the tank this morning to catch the Green Terrors and Silver Dollars for our monthly fish auction, and the water hasn't totally cleared up yet.

Anyway, here's Diablo:


















His new home:


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## CiChLiD LoVeR128 (Mar 22, 2006)

Wow beautiful fish and beautiful setup! Great job! :thumb:


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## Big Vine (Feb 26, 2007)

Very nice! 8) 
Thanks for the update.
BV


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## illy-d (Nov 6, 2005)

You know he is still a stunning fish - but I liked him better as a baby! Good job on that tank BTW. Very nice. From what I have read & heard pure Labiatus is a rare fish - I even read an article on Lake Nicaragua where both Labiatus and Citrinellum can be found and they apparently even crossbreed/hybridize in the wild...


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