astatotilapia latifasciata

[smeats]

Hello All,
I was on the net looking to identify a yellow and black cichlid that I purchased from the same tank that I purchased an astatotilapia latifasciata. I found a site that said that it was also an astatotilapia latifasciata only it was the female.. How can 2 females of the same species be so different, it does'nt make sense to me because the other female on the page is almost exactly like the male...

Does anybody know if this information is true or not because it is puzzling me...

The site is http://home.columbus.rr.com/baumancichlids/Latifaciata.htm

hopefully it's ok to use this link....
thanks

[SGypsyMermaid]

you ask how two females of the same species can look so different? that's very commonly the case. different populations of the same species that come from different parts of a lake can have variations. on the other hand, a. latifasciata was found in lakes nawampassa and kyoga(lake victoria basin) and the two different females could possibly represent two different lakes, but still the same species.

[smeats]

thanks, I was only aware that they were from lake nawampassa.
So do you believe that the yellow & black fish on that page is actually an astatotilapia latifasciata or is it something else. I am only asking because there is a fair amount of confusion about the names of these cichlids and the link posted above is the only place I can find anyone saying that the yellow & black cichlid pictured is an astatotilapia latifasciata but I can't figure out what it could be other than that.

Thanks for your help....

If I come of sounding snobby I don't mean to... :D

[SGypsyMermaid]

thanks, I was only aware that they were from lake nawampassa.

the lake kyoga population may be extinct. no, you do not sound snobby at all! :D i am sure that both fish are a. latifasciata--there's no other fish that looks like it. i have a group with a slightly yellow tinge, and another female that is silvery-gray.

[smeats]

great, I am trying to learn as much as possible about my cichlids so that I can keep them for a long time, I am looking for a new tank so that I can have 2 or 3 cichlid tanks all from different lakes etc... I'll tell ya, I had a hard time trying to figure out what that one was... If I ever get my digital camera working I've got another I've gotta figure out... :)
it never stops does it :rofl:

[SGypsyMermaid]

If I ever get my digital
camera working I've got another I've gotta figure out...
it never stops does it

nope...it just gets worse!! :lol: :shock: :)

[StructureGuy]

Hi smeats

I thought that I'd let you know that the two females looked identical to eachother when they were young...both yellow. All three of them came from the same tank at the LFS. They were about 1.25" when I bought them and the male was just starting to show the red on the "belly". As they got older one female got a little yellower and the other female became almost a silver color when the light hits her just right. The male was all yellow and red but developed the white color on the upper part of the body as well as you can see in the picture. The lighting in the tank was a bit different when I took the two pictures of the females and that tends to exaggerate the differences a little.

Kevin