Can anyone help me to identify this cichlid please?

He belongs to a friend of mine, and we are undecided as to what he is

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn10 ... ns/006.jpg

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn10 ... ns/005.jpg

Fingers crossed the link actually worked!

We thogut it could be a Red Devil, then a Severum, then a Midas Cichlid, or a red parrot

Any ideas? :-?

I'd hazard a guess hes got a big nasty male red devil

http://www.cjexotics.com/pictures/redevil_cichlid.JPG

Definitely looks like a red devil to me.

Doesn't look like a true red devil, possibly a rd/midas hybrid, part of that complex anyway.

Actually, looking at it now it has quite big lips (red devil = A. labiatus = lips), so it could be a RD, but my money is still on RD/midas hybrid. Nice looking fish either way.

Common names mean nothing. Most of the RD/Midas in the hobby today, unless bought from a breeder that can trace his line back to wildcaught, are almost surely hybrids.

Check out these lips on the true red devil!!!

definately red devil

Really? How can you be so sure its not a hybrid :roll:

How can anyone be sure David, the first fish that sprang to mind for me was some kind of weird flowerhornish hybrid, mainly due to the head shape.

I had to search through a bunch of pics to find that one which ID'd it as a RD.

Snookie has some, it would be interesting to see some pics of his to compare.

If the History of the fish is unknown to date then it's lineage is just a guess.

A diluted Red Devil? definitely has Midas look to it IMO.

The requirements of both fish are pretty much the same whatever he ends up being called.

How can anyone be sure David, the first fish that sprang to mind for me was some kind of weird flowerhornish hybrid, mainly due to the head shape.

I had to search through a bunch of pics to find that one which ID'd it as a RD.

Snookie has some, it would be interesting to see some pics of his to compare.

From what I've found, the vest majority of "red devils" in the hobby are probably mixtures of A. labiatus and A. citrinellus (midas cichlid). The problem is that most of the pictures of these fish on the internet are of the hybrids and not the actual species, unless you are looking at pics of wild caught fish where they can actually be correctly identified, like the ones from Jeff Rapps site that I posted. The other problem is the loose usage of common names instead of correct latin names; many people don't even know the differences between the two species (or that there is two species) and therefor add to the confusion.

Here's an interesting discussion of this topic. But as for the OP's fish, I don't think anyone can do better than saying its part of the Red Devil/Midas group.

So true David R, there is still confusion over the two... we bred a Midas pair, registered them as Midas cichlid along with scientific name.. and we get a cert back for our breeding stating Red Devil and the scientific name... so hmm it's kinda conflicting :roll:

So there are many out there that still refer to the Midas as Red Devil, seems that the it has stuck here in NZ??

The fish pictured in the links looks more Midas (maybe X) IMO.

It certainly looks bulkier/chunkier than the average RD, but the lips also look quite big.

Spink how big is it? True RD's don't usually get much over 10" where as midas can get to 14".

I dont think I have seen a True species of either in Australia as when they were first imported they both came in as Red Devils and from then on been breeding with either

Id say it would be the same in NZ

If it was me Id be calling it a Red Devil and not going by a scientific name as you can be sure either way

I know my male and female looked Midas to me but threw Lab babies with big lips

Brad