Female Borellii - dark pigmentation on face/head

[Andrew H]

Hi, not sure I have seen this before but my female Borellii has recently been showing dark pigmentation around her head. Picture doesn't even fully do it justice, but you can get the idea. She had been in yellow breeding coloration for quite a while (had some fry, kept them together for a few months) but now she is on her own in my new tank. She was pretty shy for a week or two after being transferred but is out and eating well again now. Just curious if this means anything.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Hi, not sure I have seen this before but my female Borellii has recently been showing dark pigmentation around her head. Picture doesn't even fully do it justice, but you can get the idea

I've had a couple show this colouration, and they both eventually died, but whether that was just unlucky, or cause and effect, I don't know.

Cheers Darrel

 

[Andrew H]

Well that is a bummer to hear. On the other hand, all of my fish have eventually died! I do know that darkened head pigmentation can be associated with mycobacterial infection, which I have had concerns about in the past. What was the correlation in timing between appearance of the coloration and death?

 

[Mike Wise]

Cichlids can manipulate their chromatophores and change color at will. Sometimes something happenes, like a stroke?, that prevents the fish from doing this.

 

[Andrew H]

Cichlids can manipulate their chromatophores and change color at will. Sometimes something happenes, like a stroke?, that prevents the fish from doing this.

Thanks Mike. And as of this am, after 72 hours, the coloration is gone - back to uniform light color. Apistos keep it interesting…