Need Help Id'ing Mbuna

[Acei]

I recently purchased this Mystery

Mbuna from a Fish Store that was going out of business. The new store owner had no idea what

species it is, but I know that the former owner is a cichlid nut and ofter imports uncommon fish.

I purchased a lone male and am trying to get a positive ID on it so that I can begin the quest of

looking for a female. I believe the fish I purchased is Pseudotropheus sp "Aggressive

Brown" Here is a photo of my fish followed by one of Ad Konings photos of Ps "Aggressive

Brown"

My Fish:
http://cichlidxtreme.42toys.com/image/PsAter1.jpg

Konings' Photo:
http://research.yale.edu/peabody/CICHLID/PP/pagrbrwn.jpg

If I have positively ID'ed this fish, I need some info on it. There is very

little information about it on the net. Any help that can be given would be greatly

appreciated...

Here is one last photo of my fish for further comparison:
http://cichlidxtreme.42toys.com/image/PsAter4.jpg

[Acei]

Anyone?

[Led]

Hard to tell from your

photo....but, do the stripes go up into the dorsal fin of your fish? If so I would say it looks a

bit like my Cyn. "Mbweca" afra. But, it is hard to say with that photo. If you had more

than one of these fish....preferably male/female you could see the fish's real coloration.

[Acei]

Yes, when he is stressed and the

black starts to wash out, the blue stripes can be seen in the dorsal... You think it could be

Mbweca with an overactive black gene? When I purchsed the fish, I thought it was probobly an afra

species, but when I got home, I couldn't find any varieties that had as much black coverage as

mine does. Plus he is way more aggressive then I expected an afra sp. to be. Before he was added

to the tank, a male Ps. polit and a male Venustus ruled the tank. Within a day, the new fish had

both of these fish backed into a corner of the tank... I've never had another mbuna that could

challange my polit, even my demasoni back down from them.

[Led]

There aren't too many afra

with that type of coloration and the stripes in the dorsal......I can only think of the Mbweca.

And, if there are no females they get fairly dark. That is what I believe it is. http://cichlid.ipbhost.com/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif

[Acei]

Thanks Led, I believe it's

probobly an afra species as well now that I've done more research. I'm just not sure its

mbweca because the other color that shows isn't yellow it's blue. Is there a blue afra

that it could be. I'm thinking maybe "Black Eastern"

[Led]

Well, the Mbweca afra you see

in pictures lately seems to actually be the Usisya afra....at least the ones I have seen on

Aquabid. They aren't even Mbweca afra even though people are advertising them as Mbweca.

Cichlid News a while back had a pic of the real Mbweca afra. They are normally green and black

mostly with a little blue. They only turn mustard yellow when showing off for females.

[Acei]

Ahh... Thanks, that helps alot.

I finally got ahold of the owner of the pet store that imported the fish. He is going back through

his records to the time that the fish was purchased to tell me at least what he had in stock at the

time. He is sure that it is an afra species (since that's the only thing that resembles my

fish that he ever orders). When I get the list of what varieties he had at the time, maybe someone

can help me nail down for sure which of the (probobly 3 or 4) varieties it is. Thanks for all the

help LED.

[Acei]

Just wanted to update everyone...

I finally have a 100% positive ID on this fish. I got it through the order records of the LFS that

imported it. The fish in question is not an afra at all. It is much larger. It's a

Petrotilapia nigra. Now the problem is trying to find info on this fish... There's not much

out there on the net...

[Led]

I think I saw that fish

mentioned somewhere at the ACA Convention. Hmmmmm, I am sure I did. Boy, my memory stinks!

Not sure if it was in Ad's talk on Malawians or not. That was one of the places I thought I

might have seen it. He threw up quite a few fish on the screen to look at. He always puts on a

good talk! http://cichlid.ipbhost.com/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif Maybe someone else will

remember.

[Acei]

That figures.... I have to miss

the ACA this year and Ad talks about my fish... lol... oh well...

Oh by the way, Led,

since you seem to be a big afra buff, I thought I'd let you know that I just purchased my first

colony of afras this week. I got a group of white-top afras. I believe they are Cyno. afra

"Metangula" They are quickly becoming my favorite fish. They are so spunky for their

size. For the time being they are in a 55 gal with a pair of Ps. flavus and a pair of Ps. polit

along with a 5 inch female Venustus and my Paratilapia nigra (the subject of this post). The only

fish they back doen to is the Para. The little 1.5 inch male has usurped the 3.5 inch polit male

for the #2 spot in the tank (of course this polit is really more laid back then most)...