Cichlid ID    7/6/10 Hi, I was wondering if this is a midas cichlid or a red devil cichlid. Is it a male of female. Thanks Domenica <If this specimen was bought in a pet store and isn't wild-caught, it's probably a hybrid. With wild-caught or carefully bred fish, you tell the difference by looking at the fish from above. If you look at Amphilophus citrinellus from above, the shape of the head looks like a V. If you look at Amphilophus labiatus from above, the head looks like a U. Hybrids can look like either, or something in between. Wild-caught Amphilophus labiatus usually also have well-developed lips, much more so than those of Amphilophus citrinellus; however, tank-bred Amphilophus labiatus almost never have this feature. Bottom line, your specimen is probably a male, and if bought in an ordinary pet store at a low price, it's probably a Amphilophus hybrid. Cheers, Neale.>

Red devil or Midas 5/15/10 Can you please tell me if this is a red devil or a Midas cichlid I would really appreciated. <If you bought this from a pet store, it's almost certainly a hybrid. Pure-bred Amphilophus citrinellus and Amphilophus labiatus are very rare. In theory, the "easiest" way to tell tank-bred orange-morph Amphilophus citrinellus from Amphilophus labiatus is by looking at them from above. The shape of the mouth of Amphilophus citrinellus is seen to be somewhat curved, like a regular arch, while Amphilophus labiatus has a mouth that looks more pointed, like a gothic arch. There are some other, very slight differences in body shape. But do be aware that Nature isn't neat and tidy, and there's variation in both species. Indeed, some authorities consider them to be one and the same species. Maintenance of both true species, as well as the mutt sold in pet stores, is identical. Cheers, Neale.>

Typo ("What's in a (common Cichlid) name?") First let me tell you that I thoroughly enjoy your website, but today while I was browsing I found one piece of misinformation: Amphilophus citrinellus (Gunther 1864), the Midas Cichlid, aka one of the Mesoamerican Cichlids called a/the Red Devil. The Midas cichlid (Amphilophus citrinellus) is located in the great lakes of Nicaragua and Atlantic slope rivers in Nicaragua and Costa Rica from the Rio san Juan to the Rio chiripo del Atlántico. The Red Devil (Amphilophus labiatus) is restricted to the great lakes of Nicaragua. Loiselle, Paul V... 2000. Cichlid Forum. Aquarium Fish. 12/00. <Hmm, thank you for this input. Will post in the appropriate FAQs area on the site. Lots to say here... there are at least four species of meso-American cichlids sold as "Red Devils" in the hobby interest... If you insert the common name: "Red Devil" in www.fishbase.org you will find only A. citrinellus comes up... I accept that both species mentioned are "this" fish. If you query further, deeper you will find this to be the general consensus. Bob Fenner>

Nomenclature question Hello - For many decades, I have always kept Red Devil's and was familiar with the scientific names. In fact, back in the mid to early 80's, I had several questions answered by Aquarium Fish Magazine regarding the possibility of breeding my large male. In each of these correspondences, the scientific name was always printed with the response, in fact one of the questions I posed dealt with a particular name change which occurred back then. When I first started rearing Red Devils, the scientific name was Heros labius or Heros labiatus. Several years later, they started changing the name from Heros to Cichlidae labius and/or Cichlasoma labiatus. Today, I have noted that they are also using the name Amphilophus labiatus.  I remember that the original name change from Heros to Cichlidae was an effort to properly show the familial relations as well as reduce the number of animals that had multiple names as a result of different scientist describing the same species. Thus, what is the current/proper name of the Red Devil? Furthermore, what have all of the different versions been and why are they constantly revising the name? Thanks. Art <<Hello Art, The name Amphilophus is current and should be final. The genus Cichlasoma was an umbrella for all cichlids from Central America until things got sorted out. Today it has been split into a whole bunch of new genera according to morphological characteristics, so the fish eaters for example are Parapetenia (i.e. friedrichstahli), the rheophile cichlids are Tomocichla (i.e. tuba), the group around the red devil are now Amphilophus. There are still some fish that have not been placed in any of the groups including the salvini and the Jack Dempsey (C. octofasciatum). The genus Heros is now reserved for the fish we know as the Severum (now Heros severus), and includes around a half dozen species. To check on current names you can go to http://www.fishbase.org - this site is pretty current with what is happening in nomenclature. Hope this helps, Oliver >>