Pelvicachromis ID

[R3K1@aol.com]

Dear Bob,

Although it's difficult to tell from the photos furnished, due to blurriness 
and from the way the light distorts the coloration, given a choice, I'd say 
that your "strain 1" is Pelvicachromis taeniatus "Bandewouri" and your 
"strain 2" is P. taeniatus "Nigeria Green."  The two forms are quite easily 
distinguished, but your fish don't look quite fully mature, so it's hard to 
tell.

The Nigerian male forms exhibit intense ocelli patterning on the upper half 
of the caudal fin, with a dark distal margin on the lower half, preceded by a 
whitish or yellowish sub margin.  Although the male "Bandewouri" form 
exhibits numerous upper caudal ocelli as well, the lower caudal margins are 
absent.  Additionally, the Nigerian male forms display coloration from the 
mouth to the edge of the gill plate, inclusive of the opercle, corresponding 
to the color for which the form is named, i.e., Nigeria green, red or yellow. 
 The male "Bandewouri" form, on the other hand, display a gold to amber 
stripe on the cheek, situated just below the eyes.  The male Nigerian forms 
don't have this.

As for the males' base coloration on the flanks, the Nigerian forms tend to a 
uniform olive-beige, while the "Bandewouri" form will exhibit yellow 
coloration on the anal half of the fish, extending from the opercle to the 
anal fin.

There are some other points of distinction between the two forms, but 
hopefully this will do it for you.

Not too much of a chance for interbreeding here: the two forms are probably 
separate species.

Hope this helps you to ID your beautiful fish.

All the best,

Randall Kohn

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