Hi I got a male juvenile Convict from Petco more than a week ago and I was told it was a male because he didn't have an orange belly. He's grown a lot in a week and he's blossomed in colors. Do you think the "male" in these pictures is a male or female? In some pics he's next to a bright orange female who I want him to breed with. The fish in question has tan/light orange dots on their belly but it's minimal compared to the female with drastic orange stripes. His 3 back fins are a tad bit yellow and he has some blue on his dorsal fins. He also has a green spec going around his eye on the left side. He constantly chases and bites the brighter orange female. Last night they fought under a bridge for about an hour until he won and drove her behind the filter.
Well, it certainly has color in the belly now, unfortunately. The dorsal markings are typical of a female of Amatitlania siquia, I'd say you have two females. Sorry!
Oh, well then.....
Drama? It seems those girls got a little out of hand for the 'sleepover'?
Wow, Pillow Fight!!! Be careful now, ladies.... :lol:
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And, (A. siquia)? C'mon now, what happened with Amatitlania nigrofasciata? Geeze man.... these scientific names are changing faster than anyone can keep up with these days. :roll:
The marking is typical of female CA cichlid in general and is probably most prevalent in the genus Amatitilania.
In captivity the so called convict types are much more difficult to distinguish then any of the RD/Midas types.
The fact is, the old aquarium strains were mostly a mixture of nigrofasciata and siquia, hybridized beyond identification. Pretty much like MiDevils. However, a few years ago there was a major influx of two populations of wild caught siquia via TUIC, and their coloration is fairly distinct. OPs females match the ones I was breeding in 2014 very nicely.
Female siquia Rio Tempisque
Wow, those are some nice looking cichlids.
With the exception of the band/spot on the dorsal fin, they remind me a lot of the WC Cryptoheros cuttteri I brought back from Honduras.
Appreciate the pics - thanks for sharing!
with the orange area on underside it looks like female to me.
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