Need help identifying this P. Taeniatus

[Pat Bowerman]

There's a larger photo over in the members galleries section. Also, let's see if this works: http://www.patbowerman.com/aquarium/fish2.jpg

 

[Randall]

Pelvicachromis taeniatus from Nigeria

Dear Pat,

It looks like you have a beautiful pair of Pelvicachromis taeniatus from Nigeria (not Cameroon). Yours are the color-form Linke & Staeck call "Nigeria Yellow."

Magnificent fish.

Good luck with them!

All the best,

Randall Kohn

 

[Pat Bowerman]

Thanks, for the help.

I'm not disagreeing with you at all, but what characteristics lead you to this conclusion? (BTW, Should I buy that book, or wait for the new one that is coming out?

In addition to these, I also have 2 female P. Taeniatus "Moliwe". That fact, I'm certain of, but I can't remember what this pair was supposed to be.

I've been really shocked at how involved the male has been with the fry. He spends as much time with them as the female. It's neat to watch them trade-off. When one of them returns, the other will often swim off for a while, then return and trade-off again. The fry are currently in a heavily planted 75g tank.

 

[Randall]

Re: Thanks, for the help.

Dear Pat,

I'm not disagreeing with you at all, but what characteristics lead you to this conclusion? (BTW, Should I buy that book, or wait for the new one that is coming out?

Pelvicachromis taeniatus from Nigeria are the "true" taeniatus and are quite distinctive. Males exhibit a black distal (outermost) margin on the lower lobe of the caudal fin preceded by a whitish to yellowish submargin. The P. taeniatus from Cameroon do not exhibit this coloration, except P. taeniatus "Wouri," and are probably a different species or two different species. The Nigerian males also exhibit a high number of caudal ocelli on the median and upper parts of the fin. The only form from Cameroon that also exhibits this color pattern is P. taeniatus "Moliwe."

Dr. Lamboj's new book is due out in May. Unless you read German, it might be better to wait on the English edition.

In addition to these, I also have 2 female P. Taeniatus "Moliwe". That fact, I'm certain of, but I can't remember what this pair was supposed to be.

If you'd like to furnish a photo of your Pelvicachromis taeniatus "Moliwe," I'm happy to have a look.

I've been really shocked at how involved the male has been with the fry. He spends as much time with them as the female. It's neat to watch them trade-off. When one of them returns, the other will often swim off for a while, then return and trade-off again. The fry are currently in a heavily planted 75g tank.

This behavior sounds fascinating! Just goes to show you what larger aquaria can do. Some hobbyists keep their Pelvicachromis species in small or smaller tanks and miss out on some pretty fascinating behavior.

Good luck!

All the best,

Randall Kohn

 

[Pat Bowerman]

P. Taeniatus fry update

The fry are alive and doing well. I've been feeding them bbs since they became free swimming. An interesting thing has happened. The male has completely taken over the raising of the fry and won't allow the female to come anywhere near them. He's absolutely ferocious is his defense of them and if it weren't for the tank being so heavily planted, the female would probably be in grave danger. It's really interesting to watch him herd them around. He pecks at the gravel much like an old hen does when she has baby chicks.

 

[Neil]

Pat Bowerman,

WELCOME TO THE FORUM

That is not exceptionally suprising. Taeniatus male are usually very keen on the care of their offspring. However, most of the time it is in coordination with their partner. I have had males take over spawns from the females, but it is usually when the female was showing signs that she was not doing her job as well as he thought that she should. Sometimes females will start to eat their free swimming fry for one reason or another and the male will really let her have it and take the group over, keeping her away. That may not be what is happening to your pair. You may simply have an overly maturnal father there

Neil

 

[Randall]

Pelvicachromis taeniatus

Dear Pat,

Toyin Ojo has seen your photo and thinks that you have Pelvicachromis taeniatus "Moliwe," a form from Cameroon. From what I can see of your male's caudal fin, your fish look Nigerian to me, but Toyin sees more P. taeniatus in one week than I will in a lifetime.

If you look at your male's tail, does the lower part exhibit a distinct black margin that is preceded by a whitish to yellowish margin? If so, =Nigeria; if not, =Moliwe, Cameroon.

Thanks!

Randall Kohn

 

[kribs]

Randall i have a question for you. Do all females in the moliwe have spots on the tail or just some. As all the ones i have kept so far had spots on the tail.

 

[Randall]

Pelvicachromis taeniatus "Moliwe"

Hello Mohammed,

The spots on Pelvicachromis taeniatus are variable. Of the forms from Cameroon, the "Moliwe" fish is one of the more heavily spotted ones. Every female I've ever seen exhibits at least one spot on the caudal fin and at least one spot on the soft rays of the dorsal fin, usually more.

All the best,

Randall Kohn

 

[SeaPanda]

Hi since im new here, i say hi to all

i just love west africa cichlids.

The male seems like a Moliwe, but the female does not. One aspect of the female is the color during courtship she becomes almost black with the red belly showing and the golden of the fins shinning.

The female seems like a Lobe

this is my Moliwe couple with fry

 

[Randall]

Pelvicachromis taeniatus "Moliwe"

Hello Sea Panda,

Welcome!

The two fish depicted in your photo sure look like Pelvicachromis taeniatus "Moliwe" to me, based on their coloration and caudal and dorsal spots.

P. taeniatus "Lobe" is essentially a yellowish fish. Both males and females generally exhibit zero to one dark spot on both the caudal and dorsal fins. P. taeniatus "Moliwe," on the other hand, exhibit far more spots. Females generally exhibit at least one, but more often two or three, caudal and dorsal spots. I think your female is indeed "Moliwe" and not "Lobe."

Good luck with them!

All the best,

Randall Kohn

 

[SeaPanda]

Sorry, Randal

I was talking about Pat Bowerman female, not my one

 

[tjudy]

This thread is old, but I wanted to point out that Pat's female does not have the characteristic horizontal stripes in the bottom of the caudal fin that the nigerian forms do. I disagree that the female is lobe rather than moliwe, but only because the females of all Camaroon taeniatus (except wouri) are all very similar and highly variable in spots. Some lobe females do have spots, some do not (no male lobe have spots according to Lamboj).

I agree with Toyin that it is likely a moliwe. The dark edge to the caudal fin of the male is not a thick very-black edge like most nigerian pics I have seen. I have had wild moliwe males that have a dark reddish-purpleish-brownish edge to the caudal bordered by a lighter band. When the males are excited the edge gets darker, but never really black. The darkness of the band in the picture could be caused by the photograph quality. The male also has ocellated spots in the top of the caudal fin. Nigerian forms are not ocellated.

 

[LyreTail]

Pats fish look like "Dehane" morph from Cameroon to me. There are only a few color morphs where the upper caudal fin is bright yellow instead of orange. The Female also looks consistent with "Dehane" although it almost looks too bright a yellow. Perhaps some color correction or contrst manipulation is throwing me off?

Noting the second picture posted by SeaPanda, I find it a strange thing that my Moliwe males loose the black line when under stress and get a dark black line when happy and spawning. I have yet to figure this one out, since every persons photo I see including Anton Lamboj's pictures shows the opposite reaction. Personally I like my males with the dark black line - very attractive contrast including the brilliant yellow lower front ( I got mine as F1's from a guy in Hawaii and he said his pair get the black lines when about to spawn)

Check it out here
http://groups.msn.com/LyreTailsAquarium/discusandangelfish.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=457

 

[Randall]

Dark markings

Hello Curtis,

Pat's fish are Pelvicachromis taeniatus "Moliwe." I originally ID'd them as P. taeniatus from Nigeria, based on the single photo furnished, but I was wrong. P. taeniatus "Dehane," on the other hand, exhibits a prominent characteristic reddish-orange check stripe; Pat's fish don't.

Dark markings on cichlids tend to be variable and are contingent upon mood, so it's no surprise that your P. taeniatus "Moliwe" loses its dark lateral stripe in some behavioral situtations.

I love your photos! Please keep it up!

All the best,

Randall Kohn

 

[LyreTail]

How about the female? Do you think Pat mixed a male of one species and a female of a different species? ( talking about small photo on message). The female is not a Moliwe color form.

 

[Randall]

Pelvicachromis taeniatus "Moliwe"

Hello Curtis,

Well, I can't really tell from the tiny photo. Moliwe females tend to exhibit more dark dots on the dorsal and caudal fins than the taeniatus forms from south of the Sanaga River, Cameroon, but this is not etched in stone. Otherwise, with the exception of P. taeniatus "Wouri," several female taeniatus forms from Cameroon exhibit a similar coloration.

All the best,

Randall Kohn