Help With H. sp. Moanda

[Ekona]

I received three Hemichromis sp. 'Moanda" as 1 male and 2 females. I have them separated as they were fairly aggressive toward each other.

Here are photos of the three fish.

First fish - largest and most dominant fish - I thought this was a male because of larger size, dominance and more colors in dorsal and caudal fins.

Second fish - I thought was a female do to smaller size, lesser colors on body and in dorsal and caudal fins.

Third fish - I'm thinking a smaller male because of having more color and spangling on body and colors in dorsal and caudal fin. Especially the spangling on the scales of the body - more so than the other two.

But then I was surprised to see the first larger fish had laid (by itself ) a plaque of eggs!

Anyone care to weigh in on males or females in this group of three - tip: the first fish is pretty easy

 

[gerald]

Great to see you here again! Thought we'd lost you to the licorice world.
I've never kept Moanda but based on familiarity with other jewels I'm guessing those are all females. IME (many years ago) male jewel cichlids have yellower fins vs redder in females (these all look more red); and more dense blue spangles on the cheeks (but not necessarily on the body and fins). None of these seem to have noticeably denser spangles on the cheeks than your 1st (female) fish.

 

[aarhud]

Beautiful fish.

Where did you pick these up if you don't mind me asking? Are you going to be able to source males if you indeed have all females?

 

[Ekona]

Great to see you here again! Thought we'd lost you to the licorice world.
I've never kept Moanda but based on familiarity with other jewels I'm guessing those are all females. IME (many years ago) male jewel cichlids have yellower fins vs redder in females (these all look more red); and more dense blue spangles on the cheeks (but not necessarily on the body and fins). None of these seem to have noticeably denser spangles on the cheeks than your 1st (female) fish.

Thanks, G, and yes it's been a while. And now I also agree they are all females. Was not aware of the spangling on the cheeks being a clue to M/F, so very helpful.

To aarhed - I got these at Wetspot - they were the last three. However, I believe Jeff@aquaticclarity may have them in stock.

 

[gerald]

Hopefully others with Moanda-Jewel-specific experience will chime in. The clues I offered are just very generic "jewel cichlid" observations and might not apply so well to this species.

 

[atmagoulick]

They look great. I hope one becomes a male so they will have fry.