Various Mbuna Morphs, subspecies, etc.

[AtoZ Cichlids]

I would like to share the most basic knowledge of the most uncommon and most unknown Mbunas that I know of. In turn what you know... just so we can all see a new beautiful fish today!

 

[TheCommunityCichlid]

http://www.carespreservation.com/priority_list.html

Here's a list lol

 

[Freakgecko91]

You do know mbuna is just a term for similar genera from lake Malawi right? There are dozens of genera that are technically "mbuna". So are you asking for species, or morphs/collection points within certain species only? Also, blueberry ob zebra are a hybrid and do not exist in Malawi, and aren't exactly rare, uncommon, but not rare...

There are certain naturally-occurring OB species in Malawi, like fuellborni, but the blueberry OB zebra is not one unfortunately

 

[AtoZ Cichlids]

See... There you go im already learning thanks

 

[Freakgecko91]

See... There you go im already learning thanks

Basically, with the fish of Malawi, there's three cichlid groups: haps (there's also haps in Lake Victoria, the second Rift Lake, but these are different), peacocks, and mbuna. Within each of those groups you have several different genus (although I think peacocks are mostly, if not completely aulonocara). Within each genus are different species. Sometimes there's one, sometimes there many. Within each species there are different collection points, or where they are collected within the lake. They also may include the color within this. Although it's from a different lake (Lake Tanganyika, the third Rift Lake), tropheus moorii is a great species to look into when trying to understand collection points as it has, if I remember correctly, 20+ collection points, and most of them look quite different, yet they are all the same species. They've evolved certain colors to adapt to different areas of a massive lake; the rift lakes are among the largest in the world.

I suggest going to YouTube and watching "Jewels of the Rift". It's a documentary about Lake Tanganyika's wildlife, mostly its cichlids. It's my favorite of the three due to the cichlids being so unique and each having such a specific niche in their environment. Some of the most bizarre, yet amazing and entertaining behavior in the animal kingdom! Not many people realize there's several species of fish that specialize in living in shells (neolamprologus sp. and lamprologus sp.)

 

[AtoZ Cichlids]

Sweet, Thanks! I was just trying to avoid peacocks... personally I beleive that although not always, Mbuna are much more attractive.

 

[bettaowner]

Those are really cool fish. I prefer tanganykians to Malawi cichlids but these guys are cool

 

[AtoZ Cichlids]

absolutly

 

[AtoZ Cichlids]

Just browsing the internet when I stumble upon an amazing set of fins... look at that dorsal, I love it. are there any malawi that have similar fins (nothing albino though)? One like this would be a fine addition to my collection! please soneone help me lol! Does anyone know this specific fish? I think its a hybrid, am I right?

 

[Freakgecko91]

It's not a hybrid, and this picture has popped up on this forum before but I do not recall what it was found to be, sorry

 

[AtoZ Cichlids]

well ill look to see if the photo belongs to an informative website and ill see if i cant get the facts out there

 

[AtoZ Cichlids]

wait... im confused... what is it?

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=245759

 

[Freakgecko91]

Metriaclima lanisticola

 

[AtoZ Cichlids]

So whats another really pretty one that I could possibly add to my tank? Are there any green? purple?