# Pleaes help me ID my Jewels!!!! Plenty of pics



## GotCichlids? (May 21, 2010)

Is this Hemichromis bimaculatus or Hemichromis guttatus or another Hemichromis please help!!!!









The mating pair









My male









My female full of eggs again!!! :thumb:


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## bernie comeau (Feb 19, 2007)

Well we can definately say your fish is NOT Hemichromis bimaculatus. Even though aquarium strain jewels have gone by this name for long, long time, Hemichromis bimaculatus is actually thought to be very, very rare in the hobby, if not non-existent in the hobby. It is a case of mis -identification and the wrong name being used for a very long time. Aquarium strain jewels are now thought to be Hemichromis guttatus, or at least fit that species more so then others. According to Anton Laboj in his book The Cichlid Fishes of Western Africa, Hemichromis bimaculatus lacks iridiophores (blue spots), especially on th body ----and his pictures of wild caught specimens do show that. Your fish clearly does not lack iridiophores (blue spots) on the body, so it defiantely can not fit the type of H. bimaculatus.

Now there are a few other jewel species, not very common, but defiantely do exist in the trade. H. cristatus and H. lifalili. IMO, there very difficult to distinguish from H. guttatus. Unless you know the collection point of the fish in question, I would generally assume an aquarium strain jewel to be H. guttatus. According to Anton Laboj, many of the very colorfull jewels in the hobby get labeled H. lifalili because of their bright colors, but are in fact just a colorful strain of H. guttatus.


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## GotCichlids? (May 21, 2010)

Thanks for the in put Bernie! I like to make sure that I know exactly what I have is there anyway other than knowing where they were collected that this were H. Lifalili or H. Cristatus?


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## GotCichlids? (May 21, 2010)

The Yellow that is showing more in the photo on my female is very indicative of the H. Cristatus which I'm sure you are aware of and she is still pretty young about only 2" long so could it be that she is in fact H. Cristatus and the yellow around mid body just hasn't fully colored? And with that said the male that shows a little of the yellowish coloration in the picture doesn't really show any when looking at him in the tank is it possible that I was sold a H. Guttatus being the male and a H. Cristatus being the female. They came from the same place and where both just labeled West African Jewel Cichlid!


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## GotCichlids? (May 21, 2010)

You are right though about both of the species they are very very similar to the H. Guttatus but looking at more detail to the two others in ? I have noticed that the H. Lifalili either lack or have a very faded black spot on the body! As you can see in my pics both of mine do have a very predominate black spot that isn't faded at all. Does this rule out H. Lifalili or are the articles/pictures just examples and the dot can vary via individual? Sorry about all the ?s I'm now obsessed with knowledge of all African cichlids its quickly becoming my number one hobby :lol:


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## bernie comeau (Feb 19, 2007)

H. cristatus usually exhibits 1-3 short small bars behind the spot in the middle of the body as well as more yellow coloration around this area. Your fish clearly does not.

According to the C-F profile, H. lifalili always pocessess a roundli, smaller mid -body blotch that sits entirely on top of the mid-lateral line. The mid-body blotch of H. guttatus is supose to be more oval shaped, longer and can extend below the mid lateral line. Based on this criteria, your fish clearly have the mid-body spot of H. guttatus, as it extends lower down on the fish's body. According to Anton Lamboj, H. lifalili is actually a rare species in the hobby, as most labeled H. lifalili are actually a colorful strain of H. guttatus.

While your fish apears to fit the type of H. guttatus bear in mind that these fishes are quite variable according to mood/age/sex/staus of the fish, as well as the fact that each species have regional variants that can look quite different. While it would be difficult to say with absolute certainty, that your fish is H. guttatus, there is no reason to suppose that it is not. H. guttatus is by far the most common jewel in captivity.


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## GotCichlids? (May 21, 2010)

Ok so when you are talking about the spot on the body of my fish you said that it is clearly below the lateral line? To my knowledge the lateral line runs directly through the middle of the fishes body and in both my fish the spot seems to be from the middle to the upper side of the fish in which according to you would be indicative of the H. Lifalili. Also you mention that with H. guttatus that the mid body spot would be oval and longer than those of H. Lifalili and on mine i think even the pictures show that they are almost perfect circles more than a elongated oval shape as you described. I'm sorry I keep bringing up doubt its not that I want to have some rare species I just really want to know what I have and got kind of overwhelmed when doing the research by my self so I resorted back to to forum. Thanks for all your help by the way bernie!


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## bernie comeau (Feb 19, 2007)

AfricanCichlidSweetPea said:


> Ok so when you are talking about the spot on the body of my fish you said that it is clearly below the lateral line? To my knowledge the lateral line runs directly through the middle of the fishes body and in both my fish the spot seems to be from the middle to the upper side of the fish in which according to you would be indicative of the H. Lifalili.


Nope, your not reading that or understanding it properly. A cichlid, by the way has 2 lateral lines. One higher up and one that begins in the middle of the body and runs through the middle of the caudal peduncle (mid-lateral line). H. lifalili ---- the spot sits ENTIRELY above the mid- lateral line. H. guttatus ----the BOTTOM PART of the blotch is below the mid- lateral line. The blotch begins below the mid-lateral line, though of course most of the blotch is still above the mid-lateral line. No question about it, based on this criteria your fish is H. guttatus and not H. lifalili, as the blotch on yout fish sits too low on the body to be H. lifalili.


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## GotCichlids? (May 21, 2010)

Thanks


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