As I've mentioned before, after exchanging messages with a number of other
fish hobbyists on a number of fish-related messageboards, it seems that the list of possible ID's for my five mbunas has expanded to the following
species:

Melanochromis Johanni
Melanochromis Cyaneorhabdos
Pseudotropheus Msobo
Pseudotropheus Elongatus

A few other species have been mentioned to me, but the above list seems to
be the ones that have been most often suggested. Whether or not my fish are actually a pure strain of any of the above-noted species is debatable. Quite
a few people have now suggested that they are probably hybrids.

Well, I've been pondering this issue for some time now; and I've come to realize that perhaps my mistake has been to assume that my fish are all of
the same species. I had reasoned that they didn't all look exactly the same simply due to different color variations of the same species, or possibly
due to sexual differences; however, now I am not so certain that this is the case.

In fact, the very fact that they were sold in a tank simply labeled as "Cichlids", certainly seems to add to the possibility that I actually have
more than one species of African cichlid, which were all being sold in a
mixed tank. As I have mentioned before, LFS owners will often order mixed
bags of cichlids, because they are cheaper to purchase that way.

I have been hoping to take more pictures of my mbunas for everyone to see -- and thus help with their identification -- but that has proven to be a bit difficult due to the time that these fish lurk in the rocks. And I have
missed some fabulous photo opportunities. For example, earlier this morning, Bully Boy -- my dominant male -- was sparring with subdominant male #1, who
I have now named "Usurper", because he recently grabbed some of Bully Boy's territory. Anyway, for a few brief seconds, these two handsome-looking fish were right out under the light together as they sparred, and their colors
were magnificent -- but I missed it! Darn! Maybe next time! :)

Anyway, if you want to see the pics that I have already taken, well, I guess you will just have to visit TheFishGuy Messageboard. Google it with the
terms "thefishguy messageboard". :)


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