Strange fish.

[bcman6064]

I was wondering if anyone could id this guy i got. I cant get a pic becasue its shy but i can describge it. It has faint black stripes like convict near back of body, a bunch of pale pale yellow scales on the stomach, a bump on its head, a bright read tail with a blue and orange dorsal/pelvic fins. Its eyes are also blue instead of brown like the convict i have. Any ideas?

[highplainsdrifter]

Could be Archocentrus sajica, based on the description.

[jennigypsy]

that's my guess too...

[bcman6064]

also, the fish is barely pushing 2 inches.

[bcman6064]

is archocentrus sajica close to a convict?

[jennigypsy]

yes, not as aggressive though..I think they get bigger than convicts too

[bcman6064]

thanks. Just wondering, i have one that looks the same but with a buncha orange and yellow scales on the sides. If they are male/female would they breed at their current size (2 inches) I suppose that explains why the male convict i put in kinda got rejected.

[jennigypsy]

not sure about that one....if you 'google' a search on them you might be able to find some facts (and pics to compare--to see if we're right!)

poor little convict got his feelings hurt! lol

[bcman6064]

I suppose he will need a friend :)

[jennigypsy]

...which, if you choose a 'female friend'..will turn to many MANY convict friends...very quickly!!

[bcman6064]

I managed to get a pic of the two out in the open finally. I hope they have paired up sine they are pretty friendly and have done a lot of rock work. This pic is the two of them and the other will be just the female basically.

Does this guy look like he has a hump on his head to you?

[bcman6064]

this is a good pic of the female.

[Jason_S]

ok, here's a little backstory that you may already know but...

Blood parrots are hybrids that are believed to be Midas crossed with severums. Jelly bean parrots are blood parrots crossed with convicts. Jelly bean parrots are much more likely to be fertile and produce fertile offspring. It looks like what you have is a jelly bean parrot bred so many times with normal convicts that what you have is about 90% convict and about 10% jelly bean parrot. that would explain the abnormal coloring and the unusual head shape. I have several pics of one of my convict pairs here... http://www.fishprofiles.com/interactive/forums/thread.asp?id=37348

Jason

[bcman6064]

Well, thanks for all your help. I now have 100ish eggs laid an hour ago and all is well. I will have to put some pics up once the fry hatach.

Also, i dont know if this is right, but arent jellybean parrots all just a single color? Because these fish are colored pretty exstensively, much more than in the pictures.

[Jason_S]

since they are hybrids, coloration will vary. As I said, I think you got the fry of a convict and a jellybean...the fry you got look much closer to convicts, but still have what appears to be a little jellybean in them.

[Rex Karr]

I really can't even begin to fathom why you would think that these convict x jb hybrids with 90% convict heritage. That sounds pretty fanciful.

Archocentrus nigrofasciatum is a very diverse species with many geographical color variations. Your fish look just like Convicts in my opinion. I don't think there is anything odd about your fish at all.

[Jason_S]

look at the pic of the male, from the gill plate forward it is not shaped like a true convict. actually, what I'm really referring to is the 'dip' in the forehead right above the eyes. the forehead slope reminds me of that of a jellybean (or blood) parrot and it is not normal for a true convict. also, the 'beak' seems to protrude out further than it should and the mouth seems to be just pointing down just slightly enough to look odd. I know that jellybeans are blood parrots crossed with convicts, which is what led to my response. It could also just be some type of Cryptoheros 'mutt'...some cross breed of a convict with other cryptoheros species. I understand the different color variants by collecting location, but I'm assuming he got these fish at an lfs or from a friend. If he got them from a collector or known seller, he'd know for sure what they are. I truly doubt he got any nice color variant of a convict at any lfs.

Jason:)