What is this fish?

[chevypride]

There is a fish in a mixed african cichlid tank at my local LFS. He's orange with black patches. I know I've seen them somewhere but can't think of the name. I'd really like to get a pure one, anyone got an id?

 

[CichlidLady0312]

Sounds like an OB.

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[chevypride]

Looks similar. But this one didn't have blue tinted fins and I don't think he was a peacock.

 

[Andrew McFadden]

Personlly I dont have one nor do I know much about them but if you have a pond and would like to contribute by being a moderator of the outdoor pond forum please private message me or e-mail me.

There are OB Peacocks and also OB Mbuna. Either way you look at them they are hybrids so the spots and coloration isn't always the same.

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[Wy Renegade]

There are OB Peacocks and also OB Mbuna. Either way you look at them they are hybrids so the spots and coloration isn't always the same.

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Andrew curious as to your source on this - I've never seen OB Zebra (mbuna) referred to as being a hybrid. If they are, they must hybridize in nature, as they were identified as endemic to Lake Malawi and were first identified back in the 1800s.

 

[Andrew McFadden]

Andrew curious as to your source on this - I've never seen OB Zebra (mbuna) referred to as being a hybrid. If they are, they must hybridize in nature, as they were identified as endemic to Lake Malawi and were first identified back in the 1800s.

OB anything is a hybrid crossed between two species. A friend of mine actually crosses the red zebra with the blue zebra to get OB zebras. I actually have a couple of them.

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[Wy Renegade]

OB anything is a hybrid crossed between two species. A friend of mine actually crosses the red zebra with the blue zebra to get OB zebras. I actually have a couple of them.

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Once again, I'm curious as to your source. Since the OB Zebra has a given scientific name, it isn't considered a hybrid by scientists, at least not at this point. I am curious to know if there is discussion to the contrary going on somewhere. I don't doubt that you can get OB coloration by crossing two species, but they are considered to be a distinct species as well. If they weren't, they wouldn't have a scientific name.

 

[chevypride]

I've also actually read the ob are hybrids. It's very confusing reading it all online, that's why I was getting confused wether he's a peacock, or a mbuna, or what exactly they are.

 

[Wy Renegade]

I've also actually read the ob are hybrids. It's very confusing reading it all online, that's why I was getting confused wether he's a peacock, or a mbuna, or what exactly they are.

I'm not doubting anyone - Andrew is a very knowledgeable cichlid keeper, which is why I was hoping he could provide source information. OB, which stands for orange blotch, simply refers the coloration pattern of the fish. Something I've never really understood, since the "Blueberry" Zebra is considered to be an OB Zebra. I do know that any type of Zebra's can and do frequently interbreed, and at the scientific level there is a huge amount of discussion about which are actually species and which are the result of hybridization. As Andrew mentioned, you can get that same color pattern in lots of different fish, like Zebras, Fuellborni, peacocks, etc.

 

[Andrew McFadden]

Yea I can't friendly argue with you about the fact of them not being in the lake. But who says what is true along the lines of what two species make the OB in the lake. I came across a spread sheet showing the different fish that can be bred together to get OB in captivity and I'm currently looking for it.

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[Wy Renegade]

It wouldn't surprise me at some point if they came out and said that all zebra's are actually the same species, and all the different variations are simply color morphs of that species. I know when I first started keeping cichlids, I had a population of OB Zebras in which none of the individuals had any orange coloring at all. The dominant male was a beautiful Blueberry Zebra and every once in a while in the offspring I would end up with solid BB Zebra offspring. I always removed them and farmed them out, but it always had me curious about the genetics of the coloration and speciation.

 

[CichlidLady0312]

Would you guys help me id my ob in my photo album?

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[Andrew McFadden]

Would you guys help me id my ob in my photo album?

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Yours is an ob peacock and you need to clean your mailbox out.

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[Brandon D.]

Wild caught Ob

 

[CichlidLady0312]

Yours is an ob peacock and you need to clean your mailbox out.

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Hi! I cleaned out my inbox. I uploaded another pic that im unsure of sex and id if you can help

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[Freakgecko91]

While there are certain naturally occurring OB species in Malawi (I know several but names are escaping me right now), there are hybrid OB "species" (for lack of a better word) in the hobby