# African fella needs a name



## J&amp;J (Jun 3, 2008)

Hi,
Thought i'd make my first post by asking if anyone knows what one of my cichlids are. I'm from Australia and have got around 20 Africans, most different species, so I may post up some more pics for identification again soon 

So anyway, this guy is usually a dark purple colour, with some distinct dark stripes as seen in the photos. When he's getting worked up (quite regularly :lol: ) he turns very light purple, sometimes almost white, and keeps his dark stripes.

Let me know what you think.

Cheers,
Joel

Normal









Agro


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## etcbrown (Nov 10, 2007)

Psuedotropheus longior. Would be my number one guess.

The caveat is that it could also be one of several species of Psudotropheus enlongatus like "yellow tail" or "mpanga".

Nice looking male either way.


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## Cich of it all (Mar 29, 2007)

...I was thinking elongatus.


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## J&amp;J (Jun 3, 2008)

Thanks for the replies

I looked through all the species for Psudotropheus enlongatus and he probably most resembles the mpanga type. Although I'm slightly skeptical due to the fact that he is definitly an omnivore, as he eats bloodworms, pellet, flake etc.

etcbrown: I couldnt find anything on Psuedotropheus longior? Am I just overlooking it :-?


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## dielikemoviestars (Oct 23, 2007)

J&J - all mbuna will take meaty foods when given. The key is to NOT provide that food. Why? Malawi bloat.


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## etcbrown (Nov 10, 2007)

J&J,

Per Ad Konings: "The yellow-tailed enlongatus form a separate, third group, the Psuedotropheus longior group. They prefer clear water and no sediment on the rocks. They regularly feed on plankton in mid water and move further away from the rocks than most other members of the P. enlongatus complex. It is virtually impossible to distinguish the geographically isolated populations of the different yellow-tailed species by the male breeding coloration; in fact all opulations may belong to a single species, i.e. P. longior."

So, my interpretation is that any of the yellow-tailed P. enlongatus are synonomous with P. longior. It is confusing because there is P. sp "enlongatus yellow tail", P. sp "enlongatus linganjala", P. sp "enlongatus mpanga", P. sp "enlongatus taiwan", P. longior, and a couple others that all look nearly identical to me. :thumb:


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## noki (Jun 13, 2003)

yes, the actual species ID is pretty confusing. Nice male thou.


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## J&amp;J (Jun 3, 2008)

dielikemoviestars: I've read about Malawi bloat before, is this basically when a fish can't digest it's food? I've been feeding them a variety of food for several months now and haven't had any major problems (only lost 2). I am relatively new to this (~9 months) so am learning on the run 

etcbrown: It sure is confusing :lol: i'm trying to put together a document with information and pictures of all my fish, and maybe some that I want to get in the future too.

Thanks again for the info guys!


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## Gibbs (Apr 21, 2008)

That is an Elongatus Mphanga For sure. Looks just like mine :thumb: 
Vego, so feed them like vegos


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