Zebras - I.D. help please

[hamfist]

Having kept SA/CA cichlids for 30 years I have just started to venture out into Africans.
I have just bought a few cichlids from my LFS. Sold to me as "Yellow Zebras" and "red top zebras".
Now, I think that the red tops are a form of Cynotilapia afra (and as such require a slightly more omnivorous diet than most mbuna). Please correct me if I'm wrong with either point.
The "yellow zebras" I am really not sure on. Are they yet another colour form of C.afra ? I suspect they are not, as their mouths are much smaller relatively than the red tops I have. Or a yellow form of Pseudotropheus zebra ? I'm pretty sure they are not yellow labs as they don't have that stripe along the top of the dorsal fin. If I google "yellow zebra cichlid" I get surprisingly few hits. And further searching has still left me puzzled. Can you help with I.D. ??

 

[james99]

"yellow zebra" is usually a name used for yellow lab/red zebra hybrids.

 

[Fish_Man_Dan]

first two look like male M. greshakei, the "yellow zebras" shown are definetely lab/red zebra hybrids. i believe there is nothing wrong with hybrids as long as you know what they are and dont sell them as something else!

 

[hamfist]

Excellent. Thanks guys. I have no problem with hybrids, being a big flowerhorn fan already !

 

[mike dunagan]

Flowerhorns and regular hybrids are not the same thing. If you were a flowerhorn fan you would know this.

 

[hamfist]

Flowerhorns and regular hybrids are not the same thing. If you were a flowerhorn fan you would know this.

Mike, I fully accept your greater knowledge of me than I have myself. Clearly I am not a flowerhorn fan after all.

If you read my post, at no point did I state or even intimate that flowerhorns and other cichlid hybrids were all much the same thing.

 

[shane2sweet1]

Ok, I must really not be a flowerhorn fan... I thought flowerhorns were hybrids? How is that not like a regular cichlid hybrid? Someone fill me in here, ya'll got me confused

 

[hamfist]

Ok, I must really not be a flowerhorn fan... I thought flowerhorns were hybrids? How is that not like a regular cichlid hybrid? Someone fill me in here, ya'll got me confused

You're quite right, Flowerhorn's are cichlid hybrids, but they aren't simply one species crossed with another as the "yellow zebras" I enquired about in this thread seem to be.
FH's are what you might think of as "complex" hybrids, being mixtures of a number of species which have been bred together to create a particular strain. These FH strains are then generally line-bred to create more stable traits in the fish. ALthough the SE Asian breeders are always trying to create new strains.
Certainly, some vieja/paratheraps species, trimacs (and almost certainly other Amphilophus species too) and blood parrots (themselves hybrids) have "donated" genes into the flowerhorn gene pool at some point.

oops, forget all that. Remember I'm not a real flowerhorn fan.

 

[Kcameron]

You're quite right, Flowerhorn's are cichlid hybrids, but they aren't simply one species crossed with another as the "yellow zebras" I enquired about in this thread seem to be.
FH's are what you might think of as "complex" hybrids, being mixtures of a number of species which have been bred together to create a particular strain. These FH strains are then generally line-bred to create more stable traits in the fish. ALthough the SE Asian breeders are always trying to create new strains.
Certainly, some vieja/paratheraps species, trimacs (and almost certainly other Amphilophus species too) and blood parrots (themselves hybrids) have "donated" genes into the flowerhorn gene pool at some point.

oops, forget all that. Remember I'm not a real flowerhorn fan.

lol..ZING

 

[mike dunagan]

Flowerhorns are demonized by most because they are hybrids, but as explained above there is a lot work that goes into making these hybrid fish. They are not african rift lake cichlid hybrids. These hybrids occur from irresponsible fish keeping. The genetic purity of many cichlid species in hobby has been called to question based on the practices of many fish farms and keepers. Breeding fish and selling them without really knowing or caring that they are hybrids. Often 1st generation hybrids look no different than pure species. Many of the african species are threatened and many are part of programs to keep these fish going in the hobby for future release projects. However we have more and more mixed unknowns that are entering the hobby. The debate that is circling with the cichlid association is heated to say the least.

I am a great fan of flowerhorns, and comparing a flowerhorn to a lab/zebra hybrid is ridiculous. I more consider them similar to discus and angelfish. They are not natural, but an accepted hobby fish.

Most of those who are first introduced to flowerhorns believe that they can simply cross the fish from petsmart and create their own flowerhorn. This is the misconception I am speaking of.

Dig, zing, or say what you want... The fact remains that the issue is more than a simple "I like hybrids". I would expect a flowerhorn fan to understand this. They are constantly attacked for the type of fish they like.