# Yellow Labs - Black Face



## BLACK_AFRICAN (May 21, 2008)

What causes the black face periodically exhibited by Yellow labs.

I have a XL male (largest member in the tank), medium female & a holding juvie. At times they exhibit black around the gills or face area. What causes this, stress?

_What are some of the features to look for to identify whether Labs are pure. _ The XL male & female are generally a solid golden yellow for the most part.

The female(s) have also exhibited a thin almost faint line @ times that goes across the body. _Is this a sign that they are not pure or just simply stressed by the male _(who continuously tries to breed). The male does not exhibit the faint line across the body.


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## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

the black face is an undesirable gene and likely the cause of why the all-yellow hybrid lab has become popular... everyone wants the solid golden yellow color and the domestic bloodlines of yellow lab had become so "dirty" looking. What is a pity is that the dirty look was simply a lack of culling that look. Over time, any trait can be weeded out if everyone tries to eliminate it.

A line across the body doesn't sound normal... any chance you can post pictures?


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## BLACK_AFRICAN (May 21, 2008)

Number 6, thank you for the reply.

Are _you saying that the Labs with black face are hybrids  _(the black face comes and goes) for the most part he's a pure beautiful golden yellow. I specifically waited to find 2 nicely coloured Labs to ensure they were pure & paid good $ for him.

_When I breed him how do I eliminate this gene as you've mentioned_ - remove the ones with black markings on their face? Sorry but need a little more explanation. For future how can I tell if they are pure?

Sorry, unable to post pic of the thin line across the body. _More detail _- they are more or less dashes that are extremely faint looks something like this - - -it appears as a faint see through line even though it's not persay a real line (1/2 way where her bones are so it gives the appearance of a faint line when the yellow softens. My mistake & bad description lol I would think it has to do with what you've mentioned.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Pure labs can have the black face, also called bearding. Any black markings on the body whatsoever are undesirable to some fishkeepers, but common as mentioned. You really cannot 100% identify a pure labidochromis caeruleus visually.

The problem with selective breeding to reduce black body markings is that IME they don't show up until the fish are quite mature, and sometimes the alpha male is the only one with the markings. That could take 1-2 years for each generation of fry to grow out to select out the "dirty" ones.

In the future, view the 1-2 year old father of any fry you are buying and look for the clean yellow body.


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## steelers fan (Jun 26, 2009)

i have the most stunning female lab *** seen but she does beard up a little when shes stressed like when shes holding otherwise a very pretty fish


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## Riceburner (Sep 3, 2008)

Stress causes the bearding the most.


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

The "bearding" is something that just happens. Sometimes, wild males will show this. I don't believe it is stress. It isn't a desirable trait, but not necessarily genetics either. My dominant male in the office tank has a beard. He is a known F2. The subdom is clear. The males from the same brood, in another tank have no beards.


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## MCKP (Aug 17, 2009)

I think dominance is a factor too, my large male tends to 'beard up' when he is getting ready to mate with my female... my other males don't, but I don't believe they would challenge my larger male either...


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## Riceburner (Sep 3, 2008)

In my tank, the chased and cornered male gets the bearding.


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## Cichlidaevid (Jul 27, 2009)

Riceburner said:


> In my tank, the chased and cornered male gets the bearding.


This is the case in my tank as well. The dominant males and females all look stunning, and the bullied/stressed fish look dark and dingy.


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## ElectricYellow_Sonny (Sep 8, 2009)

Cichlidaevid said:


> Riceburner said:
> 
> 
> > In my tank, the chased and cornered male gets the bearding.
> ...


Exactly!

I've got a 12 yr old F1 male, very dominant.
The so called black face, or bearding has NOTHING to do with poor breeding.

It's a sign of stress, the fish is 'de-coloring' to hide, or be less noticeable to the dominant ones usually chasing them around. Plain & simple.

Some yellow labs will have a tendency to get more of the brown/black splotching though..

The poor breeding enters when breeders start using neon yellow coloring, but that's a different topic.


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## snoreson (Aug 29, 2007)

all statements said before apply. Another factor i ran into was dark substrate and backgound caused the dingy look and black mustache.


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