# maingano or johanni, male or female



## davenoble

*maingano or johanni*​
johanni male964.29%maingano male428.57%maingano female17.14%


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## davenoble

heres a couple of pics of what i thought was a johanni, now im not so sure, anyone shine some light on the ID of this malawi guy?!?!?!?


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## ladybugzcrunch

Looks just like my male johanni. The left side of the fish gives a better ID toward johanni because the bottom bar is more of a bury bunch of color in one direction as opposed to maingano's clearly defined bar boundaries (if that makes any sense).


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## jlose

I've kept this species in the past and that looks like a M. maingano male.


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## davenoble

right well maybe someone can help on this also.

im after getting some females for this guy, but cant very well do it when i dont know exactly what he is.

however i know what a female johanni looks like, but cant seem to find a pic of a female maingano, any one got one?


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## DJRansome

There are a couple of female pics in the profile.
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/s ... php?id=756


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## Floridagirl

How big was he when you got him? If he was 1" and blue, likely Maingano, if orange or yellow to start, likely Johanni. But, i would not even think about females on a fish that you don;'t know the exact species. Johanni/Maingano mixes are becoming all to popular because someone has mistaken a male. He could be a mix.


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## TKC747

*davenoble*
you got to be kidding with the poll...

I doubt even the best of us can tell without knowing what it looked like when juvenile


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## Fogelhund

ladybugzcrunch said:


> Looks just like my male johanni. The left side of the fish gives a better ID toward johanni because the bottom bar is more of a bury bunch of color in one direction as opposed to maingano's clearly defined bar boundaries (if that makes any sense).


This is false.

Male johanni and maingano should be identical as adults.

There is no way of telling which species you have, unless it is a female.


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## davenoble

first of all NO i am NOT kidding, id appreciate less comments like that and more helpfull ones, and as my question was asking, im trying to identify what he is \Before breeding.

thanks everyone for ya help, and i got him when he was about an inch and a quarter and he was as blue then as he is today


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## Floridagirl

Odds are, that he is a Maingano, or Maingano Hybrid. As it has been said, can't really tell at this point. Best advice is to buy 6-8 Juvies from a credible source, and move this guy out, if breeding is the goal, or fry will be distributed.


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## D.T.M

my wild Pseudotropheus cyaneorhabdos was caught at Maingano and has a far more elongated/tubular body shape

here he is:


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## Kanorin

You should vent it. That will at least help you know if it is a female maingano or a male maingano/johanni.

If it's male, I don't know of any surefire way to tell them apart.


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## lee-purvis

I bought 4 fish that looked exactly the same as daves picture they were sold to me as electric blue johaniis.... later found out that that they were bad examples of mainganos probably czech bred


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## PÃ¥lS

There is usually no problems seeing the difference between males of johanni and cyaneohrabdos (Maingano). If it's a maingano it should have a blue taint all over its body - even where it's "black". The johanni male lack this blue taint.


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## davenoble

lee-purvis said:


> I bought 4 fish that looked exactly the same as daves picture they were sold to me as electric blue johaniis.... later found out that that they were bad examples of mainganos probably czech bred


bloody ****, the first person *** seen from round our neck of the woods.

where abouts you from fella????


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## davenoble

PÃ¥lS said:


> There is usually no problems seeing the difference between males of johanni and cyaneohrabdos (Maingano). If it's a maingano it should have a blue taint all over its body - even where it's "black". The johanni male lack this blue taint.


from that peice of info id say he is maingano.

thanks bud


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## Wayne Quinn

I have to jump in here. Keeping both Johannii as well as Maingano, I might be able to help. This is a Male Johannii, the maingano is far cleaner in the markings catagory. It was suggested this may be a Maingano hybrid, this is entirely possible, but no plausible, if said Johannii male was bred with Maingano females. The reverse cross is terrible looking and retains some yellow. This hybridization for breeding and selling was brought up in a few threads in the past few days, and should have been non-exitant, unless it wasn't to have been sold, assuming the possibility this is a hybrid, but having kept this particular species for over 15 years, my experience tells me this is a Johannii. To be 100%, for your own knowledge, pick up a couple, 3-4 female johannii and maingano, keep them divided, and breed them both. if bred with the yellow johannii females, ALL the fry should be yellow if this is Johannii, if not then its maingano either line or hybrid and should either be prevented from spawning, or culled when they do to prevent the fry from being released to others tanks. Maingano fry are not yellow, they are blue/black striped from just past egg stage. Here is a link to a photo of my maingano juvies @ 1.5"

http://aquatichobby.proboards.com/index ... 7&post=363


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## Fogelhund

Wayne Quinn said:


> I have to jump in here. Keeping both Johannii as well as Maingano, I might be able to help. This is a Male Johannii, the maingano is far cleaner in the markings catagory. It was suggested this may be a Maingano hybrid, this is entirely possible, but no plausible, if said Johannii male was bred with Maingano females. The reverse cross is terrible looking and retains some yellow. This hybridization for breeding and selling was brought up in a few threads in the past few days, and should have been non-exitant, unless it wasn't to have been sold, assuming the possibility this is a hybrid, but having kept this particular species for over 15 years, my experience tells me this is a Johannii. To be 100%, for your own knowledge, pick up a couple, 3-4 female johannii and maingano, keep them divided, and breed them both. if bred with the yellow johannii females, ALL the fry should be yellow if this is Johannii, if not then its maingano either line or hybrid and should either be prevented from spawning, or culled when they do to prevent the fry from being released to others tanks. Maingano fry are not yellow, they are blue/black striped from just past egg stage. Here is a link to a photo of my maingano juvies @ 1.5"
> 
> http://aquatichobby.proboards.com/index ... 7&post=363


The link requires one to sign in... please just post the pictures here, or not in the future.

The reality is that the markings on maingano are not cleaner in all strains and specimens. In fact, wild johanni and maingano are both very clean in markings, depending on collection location. The variance between specimens, is far greater than any variance between species.

Once you have an adult that is blue, it simply isn't possible to determine what it is you have. I recommend buying juveniles that are easy to see what you have, or wild caughts, either from a reputable breeder.


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## Wayne Quinn

true in some cases, and buying juvenile fish, where there is no question of its species is always the safest bet.


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## Wayne Quinn

UPDATE on Picture


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## Wayne Quinn

I wasn't aware this wanted you to sign in to see the picture, this should be better this way as a host only.


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## TKC747

davenoble said:


> first of all NO i am NOT kidding, id appreciate less comments like that and more helpfull ones, and as my question was asking, im trying to identify what he is \Before breeding.
> 
> thanks everyone for ya help, and i got him when he was about an inch and a quarter and he was as blue then as he is today


Sorry, I just don't you can tell with a picture...


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## tile55

the top one looks very much like my fish, he did lose a lot of of colour when i got him home from the fish shop, he was pretty much silver with some faint black and blue colouring


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## MrAlec

could it be a melanochromis interruptus??

looks very very similar? :-?


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## QHgal

Ditto to fogulhund - there is just NO way to tell the difference between the two, once they hit adult hood. Either keep him, and not distribute the fry, OR sell him as NOT pure, and get a good group of juvies from a reputable breeder.


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