I found

[bdellinger66]

I found this cichlid at a pet shop today, it was in their nano sales tank, they tried to sell it to me as a juvenile apistogramma cacatuoides for $20 ea.
Though they are super cute... and do have a dwarf cichlid (ram) look to them.... it's definitely not a ram not an apisto.... could some one chime in here and let me know what this little guy is?
thank you

 

[anewbie]

To be honest they look a little like shell dwellers.

 

[Mike Wise]

Sorry but the photos are too out-of-focus for a decent ID. It might be a rare albino A. cacatuoides.

 

[anewbie]

Sorry but the photos are too out-of-focus for a decent ID. It might be a rare albino A. cacatuoides.

Wouldn't the eyes be red if they were albino? they are clearly black in the second photo.

 

[Jebe]

Leucistic fish have an overall white color without the red eyes. Is there traces of other colors ?

 

[MacZ]

To be honest they look a little like shell dwellers.

Definitely not. I bred different shellies for years, the body shape and esp. the mouth shape is definitely that of a South American dwarf cichlid.

 

[lexi]

A friend of mine recently bought what was supposed to be a super red a. cacatuoides via an online sale. The fish she received looks almost identical to the one you pictured. Now that it is mature, it is definitely the shape, size, mannerisms of the labeled species, is male and has very very faint orange markings on its fins. Neither of us are experienced enough to confirm it for sure, but I'm pretty positive that he is a leucistic a. cacatuoides. I will ask her for pictures and come back to share them.

 

[lexi]

Here is that fish my friend has. It does seem a bit oddly shaped, but still look cacatuoides other than that. The online seller said it came from a spawn of super reds.

 

[Mike Wise]

I think that bdellinger's and your friend's fish are leucistic cacatuoides, like Jebe wrote. Your friend's fish shows a curved spine, which may be caused by inbreeding.

 

[anewbie]

Here is that fish my friend has. It does seem a bit oddly shaped, but still look cacatuoides other than that. The online seller said it came from a spawn of super reds.

He really looks sickly esp the stomach area to the mouth. Is he active? Not meaning to be critical just wonder if the strange genetics that make him white also have some negative impact on his health.

 

[lexi]

I understand. She has had him about 3 or 4 months now. He eats and is active, seemingly healthy, but has always looked sickly. We didn't think he was going to live at first, but so far, so good. Mike mentioned his spine is probably curved wrong due to inbreeding. Weak genes connected to the color mutation would make sense in that situation for sure.

She has him in a tank with a regular female cacatuoides that came from the same seller. The white male has been uninterested and the female has shown absolutely no interest in spawning with him (thank goodness!) Other than that, he seems to act normal.