P. taeniatus x pulcher hybrid

[tjudy]

I found this image looking through the gallery where I found the P. taeniatus 'Ogele' pictures: http://www.berg-henry.no/album/fish/Pelvicachromis_taeniatus_X_006

This is the most clear example of an P. taeniatus x pulcher hybrid I have ever seen.

 

[sasikan]

especialy the tail

 

[Cichlid Junkie]

It is a pretty fish even if it is a hybrid.

 

[Rod]

Are you talking about image no 17???

Looks like a male Nigerian Red taeniatus to me???

Tail is classic "Nigerian Red" .....the black line through the body is very dark
that is the only thing that out of character?

What features do you see as kribensis??

Did they swap for a New image?

 

[tjudy]

You may be right... but the overall body color and darkness of the fish look a lot like pulcher to me. The tank-strain Nigerian red taeniatus usually have some yellow in the dorsal fin as well. One of the hypotheses out there is that the Nigerian red tank strain may have gotten the red color from an early hybrid cross to P. pulcher. To truly settle the debate I think we need to see images of the same fish in different moods. The lateral line stripe this fish is showing is very normal for P. pulcher, but a stress indicator for P. taeniatus. There are a couple shots of a male Nigerian red (and some wild Nigerian green) males in my gallery: http://tedsfishroom.com/gallery/genus-pelvicachromis/

Rod... just curious. I did a google search for images of Nigerian reds and found your forum post with the same image. Do you have (or had) this fish? If so, did it lose that lateral line stripe when in a good mood?

 

[Rod]

I agree....it could be a Pulcher with a Nigerian tail.....or an inbreed "Nigerian Red" that shows a darker line along the body???

I've owned (lots of) "Nigerian Reds" but not that fish......if you found that image on one of my posts it was probably the chap who had what looked like "Nigerian Reds" but was calling them "Dehane"
and I borrowed the image to illustrate my point
There has been a wholesaler in Australia selling "Nigerian Reds" to LFS as "Dehane".....but most shops don't know the difference....and even fewer hobbyists
I've also found a shop that was about to sell a Nigerian male with a Dehane female(one of the shop assistants was the buyer!!)....so cross breeding is a problem
Taeniatus are a "Hot" item atm in Australia.....I've kept most varieties over my 40+ years of fish keeping
I believe a lot of tank breed varieties can differ quite markedly from "wild caught" form....some by design....most by chance and a lot by inbreeding
There are a lot of varieties available in Australia atm that aren't "true to type" in my opinion.....but all very nice fish....and reality is they probably wont last more than a couple of generations
That's why they have to keep importing more!!!