# are these perlmutts?



## shellyboot (Sep 8, 2009)

these were sold to us as perlmutts, they have had 3 lots of fry, but with further research i am starting to thnk that the male is a kenyi. i need help because these wil not stop breeding and i need to know if i need to split them up. Can someone please help me?

http://s813.photobucket.com/albums/zz52 ... 0cichlids/


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## etcbrown (Nov 10, 2007)

1st picture yes.

2nd picture doubtful.

3rd picture definitely not, looks like a saulosi.


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## shellyboot (Sep 8, 2009)

Thank you, the second picture is of the fry the adults have atm. The third is the male that i am worried about. so these fish definatly need splitting up then. Looking at some pictures of saulosi, he doesnt really look like that, well i dont think he does, but he could be! need some more suggestions i think, definatly not ruling out your suggestion.


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## noki (Jun 13, 2003)

The male is probably a hybrid.


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## 24Tropheus (Jun 21, 2006)

Male kind of reminds me of Tropheops sp. 'maleri yellow' from Namalenje Island but may be hybrid as these Tropheops sp are not as common in the hobby as hybrids that look a bit like em I think.

All the best James


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## iplaywithemotions (Dec 18, 2008)

All three look like perlmutts to me. Why do you guys think they're hybrids? In the third picture, the fish does appear to be too yellow in the body to be a perlmutt, but it seems like the colors in the photo are just off.


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## malawi_luver (May 5, 2004)

iplaywithemotions said:


> All three look like perlmutts to me. Why do you guys think they're hybrids? In the third picture, the fish does appear to be too yellow in the body to be a perlmutt, but it seems like the colors in the photo are just off.


I don't even want to start to talk about the nonsense of this post. How long have you been keeping malawi cichlids or did you buy all of your fish from petsmart? If you have valuable input then please go ahead but this nonsense doesn't help.

Now for the fish,

1st - Perlmutt
2nd - Hybrid
3rd - Might be a male saulosi but judging by the picture, saulosi usually only have one egg spot (as does the male I keep right now). So I would put my money on hybrid. Lab X


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## 24Tropheus (Jun 21, 2006)

Can someone show a pic of a yellow saulosi. I am having difficulties thinking it could be a male saulosi because I have not seen a yellow male. (Same problem with it being a male perlmutt)

All the best James

PS keep it nice please.


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## malawi_luver (May 5, 2004)

There you go, it's fins aren't spread completely but this is a young saulosi transforming. They change from yellow to dark blue over some time. That's why the males aren't yellow, because they turn blue as they become dominant. I have a male right now that I know is completely yellow. and hasn't turned blue yet because there is a more dominant male in the tank.

Also, sorry about the ignorance, I've been in this hobby way too long (take a look at my join date) and kind of get frustrated when people start to post idiotic things.

Hope that helps.

PS The reason I think yours is a hybrid is because of the solid black bars... Usually they come more with time, but only time will tell.


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## Hexos (Mar 27, 2010)

I look after this tank with shellay. From my research it really looks like the aggressive kenyi's. I've seen a few vids and pictures about and his agression seems to confirm he is either a kenyi or he is a hybrid and looks like one!

Any more thoughts?

What do you guys do with hybrids?


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## noki (Jun 13, 2003)

Hexos said:


> I look after this tank with shellay. From my research it really looks like the aggressive kenyi's. I've seen a few vids and pictures about and his agression seems to confirm he is either a kenyi or he is a hybrid and looks like one!
> 
> Any more thoughts?
> 
> What do you guys do with hybrids?


All Mbuna can act aggressive. It is normal for a dominant male to act dominant.

The fish in question doesnt really look like a male Kenyi. Face is wrong, barring is way wrong, line in dorsal is wrong.

The fish does look similar to a Saulosi, except the barring is poor and the mouth looks kinda different. If a male Saulosi and he is the dominant aggressive male, he should be blue-purple with a few black bars by now. Saulosi males do tend to have those big eggspots. Could well be a Saulosi hybrid.

A male Perlmutt should be much more white without that odd barring yours has. The body shape seems wrong also. Look at the males in this profile. The males also do not usually have big eggspots.
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=741


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## SamTHorn (Mar 29, 2010)

I love those fish. The paint jobs are awesome.

~ Sam


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## cjacob316 (Dec 4, 2008)

to me, the third looks like it's a yellow lab and either perlmutt or hongi hybrid, it seems to have a lot of lab genus traits mixed together

the first i agree looks good to be a female perlmutt.

and obviously if the male is a hybrid, or just not a perlmutt, the fry are hybrids


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## cjacob316 (Dec 4, 2008)

24Tropheus said:


> Male kind of reminds me of Tropheops sp. 'maleri yellow' from Namalenje Island but may be hybrid as these Tropheops sp are not as common in the hobby as hybrids that look a bit like em I think.
> 
> All the best James


the main issue i have with this, is that it's not a tropheops mouth, the top lip would be more turned down, they are more of a grazer are they not? so their mouths should be closer to labeos and tropheus


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## 24Tropheus (Jun 21, 2006)

cjacob316 said:


> 24Tropheus said:
> 
> 
> > Male kind of reminds me of Tropheops sp. 'maleri yellow' from Namalenje Island but may be hybrid as these Tropheops sp are not as common in the hobby as hybrids that look a bit like em I think.
> ...


Good call. (Most Tropheops mouths inc that one (but not all) are as you say) Sadly it gets us not much nearer ID ing the fish. Not that Tropheops for sure.


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## cjacob316 (Dec 4, 2008)

i really think it's a multiple labidochromis mix


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## shellyboot (Sep 8, 2009)

We are getting rid of the fish as we dont want any more hybrid fry, after looking at this fish for a lot of hours, pondering what it could be i am seriously thinking that it is a yellow lab/perlmutt. it has a lot of lab traights. Luckily we dont have yellow lab females as he is a very very keen breeder!


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