# Eureka peacock



## TTUhouston (Jul 22, 2013)

I bought this guy off a local forum here and thought I would start this conversation.

I have seen some eureka's with yellow on the face and some with red. When they are younger is it yellow and slowly turns to red? Or is there two lines of eurekas? Below is the picture of the one I bought a few days ago.


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

It is a man made fish, there is a ton of variation and quality..


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## TTUhouston (Jul 22, 2013)

I guess what I am asking is what is the line between a Eureka peacock and a Aulonocara Jacobfrabergei (otter point)? It is hard for me to tell the difference or understand the difference.

I do not like crossbreeds either as I used to breed OB peacocks. Would get so much variety in the fry. I was trying with my Aulonocara sp. stuartgranti maleri peacocks for the last year or so but the male temperament was so shy that it didnt work. Looking at the next species to try. Maybe this eureka/otter point? Maybe a Lwanda?


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## nmcichlid-aholic (Mar 23, 2011)

Like one Dragonblood peacock may be really red, another really orange, and another more of a pink, you'll see the same variation from eurekas. This is a very nice one in my opinion, though!


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## TTUhouston (Jul 22, 2013)

Ya the OB (blueberry) male peacock I used to have breeding with other OB females would produce some OB, some dragonblood types, some just blue regal looking, some german red looking... made it not right to sell the offspring.


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

It is believed that Eureka's starting point was Otter Point... so, you are going to get some that look like Otter Points....


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## noki (Jun 13, 2003)

TTUhouston said:


> Ya the OB (blueberry) male peacock I used to have breeding with other OB females would produce some OB, some dragonblood types, some just blue regal looking, some german red looking... made it not right to sell the offspring.


There is no such thing as pure OB Peacocks or Dragonbloods in the first place... the fry are going to be variable in quality and looks.I suppose you could try to line breed a consistent OB peacock, as a goal. Without careful breeding, these man made lines get crappy pretty fast.


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## TTUhouston (Jul 22, 2013)

noki said:


> TTUhouston said:
> 
> 
> > Ya the OB (blueberry) male peacock I used to have breeding with other OB females would produce some OB, some dragonblood types, some just blue regal looking, some german red looking... made it not right to sell the offspring.
> ...


That is exactly why I said I do not want to deal with OBs or crossbreeds again.


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## TTUhouston (Jul 22, 2013)

Fogelhund said:


> It is believed that Eureka's starting point was Otter Point... so, you are going to get some that look like Otter Points....


Fogel,
At what point is it no longer an otter point? When breeding otter points, one day do you start calling them eurekas when you reach a certain color?

I thought this was going to be a productive discussion but so far :roll:


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## noki (Jun 13, 2003)

TTUhouston said:


> Fogelhund said:
> 
> 
> > It is believed that Eureka's starting point was Otter Point... so, you are going to get some that look like Otter Points....
> ...


At some point in the past, someone somewhere supposedly line bred Otter Points... then they called them a cultivar called "Eureka" and sold them. Nobody really knows if they are pure Otter Point, or maybe included some of the other races like the Swallowtail which has more of a reddish hue. Then this line was distributed all over the world... who knows the history of these fish after the original breeder, whoever that was.

There is no defined line between Otter Point and Eureka, except that Eureka is not considered "natural". This is all very fuzzy and vague.

Now if you selectively bred Otter Points, you could call them whatever you want, since even if they looked like Eureka they would not be part of that line. To be honest, the world really doesn't care all that much about these breed lines, they just want something that will sell, and the "Eureka" name sells even if the fish are not always that impressive.


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## TTUhouston (Jul 22, 2013)

Interesting. Well it sounds like breeding peacocks is a bad business to be in. I currently breed a few different haps and a few mbuna between my tanks and sell locally. I have always wanted to breed peacocks as well because they sell easily.

The problem seems to have to do with the "purity" of each line that you get. Everyone seems to question how "pure" the line is with peacocks but it is the only malawi fish I have heard this from besides labidochromis caereleus.

I do find it interesting that it is very hard to locally find a "real" pure peacock. Anything I see locally is a "sunshine" or a "german red" peacock. I wish it were easier to get a "pure" peacock and breed them. The only way I have been able to do it so far is to get them from reputable online dealers and ship them.


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## Strgrd67 (Feb 2, 2015)

I had the same question on the forum thread "Collection banned from Otter point"



TTUhouston said:


> I guess what I am asking is what is the line between a Eureka peacock and a Aulonocara Jacobfrabergei (otter point)? It is hard for me to tell the difference or understand the difference.
> 
> I do not like crossbreeds either as I used to breed OB peacocks. Would get so much variety in the fry. I was trying with my Aulonocara sp. stuartgranti maleri peacocks for the last year or so but the male temperament was so shy that it didnt work. Looking at the next species to try. Maybe this eureka/otter point? Maybe a Lwanda?


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## Strgrd67 (Feb 2, 2015)

IMO

Otter point= Wild strains have yellow/brown back and black ventral fins (multi color look). In aquarium strains, some can have orange back but they consistently have black ventrals. There is one example of a fish in the lake that has reddish ventrals (posted by Hock). However, even in that one, the ventrals are dark with reddish overtones.
Wild strain: http://www.ciklidhobby.com/product/edc6 ... 2e2f5d.jpg

Aquarium strain: http://www.biolib.cz/IMG/GAL/124580.jpg

Eureka= Red on all fins, except dorsal. Brownish red/ brown body. All around red.
http://www.bigskycichlids.com/images/Aj ... eureka.jpg

Cape Maclear= Unknown. From some sources, it has eureka colors. From other sources, it has otter point colors. I believe that someone has it mislabeled.



noki said:


> TTUhouston said:
> 
> 
> > Fogelhund said:
> ...


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## nmcichlid-aholic (Mar 23, 2011)

TTUhouston said:


> Fogelhund said:
> 
> 
> > It is believed that Eureka's starting point was Otter Point... so, you are going to get some that look like Otter Points....
> ...


I think we're getting a little more productive... :wink:

I think this question applies not only to Eureka's, but to all line-bred varieties - for example, when does a Lab. hongi become an SRT (super red-top) hongi? Just when the breeder feels they've gotten as much red out of the line as possible? Or has another species been introduced that would lead the breeder to actually change the name. This reiterates your point about the frustration of finding/breeding "pure" peacock species - when every breeder is looking for a competitive advantage for selling their product in an already saturated market, they may be doing themselves and the rest of us a disservice by making up all these confusing names.

As for the next species to breed, I would definitely stick with one of the types that hasn't been line bred, like the Lwanda or even one of the less common collection points of A. stuartgranti (like Hongi Island).


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