JustKeepSwimmin' said:
I was told its a jewel cichlid but that's all.
That's what it is . A jewel cichlid.
The common Jewel cichlid in the hobby is
Hemichromis guttatus. Even though this has been known for over 40 years now, the common aquarium strain Jewel cichlid is often referred to as
Hemichromis bimaculatus in many aquarium books and internet sites. While
H. bimaculatus has been imported in very limited quantities at some point in time, it is virtually non-existent in the hobby. Pictures of wild caught specimens show a fish that has almost no bright blue spots (irridiophores) so it is not particularly difficult to distinguish from
H. guttatus nor is it a fish you are likely ever to encounter.
Now, there is another very common Jewel cichlid in the hobby that goes by the names of Neon Jewel, Turquoise Jewel or " Hemichromis sp. blue neon". It is very similar to the regular common jewel and really only differs in having considerably more blue spots. It is currently unknown whether this strain is a line bred strain of
H. guttatus; a regional variant of
H. guttatus with unknown collection point; an undescribed species with unknown collection point but very similar to
H. guttatus or even possibly a man -made variant developed by crossing different Hemichromis species.
Anyways, given the amount of blue spots, I would suspect that your fish is the Neon Jewel variant, though in the state/mood your fish is in, it can be difficult to distinguish a neon from a regular Jewel, sometimes. Jewel cichlids are very chameleon-like and can take on very different looks dependent on mood/status, fear, aggression ect. As your fish settles in more, it may become more certain whether it is a regular type or a neon.
