OK, here's another of my "rode out my first cycle so I'm loyal to them despite the fact they're probably hybrids" guys. Just on the chance someone says, "Hey, that's a Ps. Elongatus Nevahurdadat Island!"

Unless I get a good ID he will have a place to live, but no fry can ever come out of that tank.

Anyway, IMHO he is beautiful and he has that Elongatus "Wanna come play?" mentality:

Looks to be a hybrid, a common one infact.

Here in San Francisco I've seen a LOT of his cousins in various LFS's. I always look at them and say, "MINE has much nicer barring, even if he is a hybrid. The interplay of Melanochromis and Elongatus is far more harmonious in MINE. MINE has much better blood lines than these mutts. MINE has a radiant color to his sides that these common hybrids lack."

Denial??? Whaddaya mean I'm in denial!!!" Giggly

He'll live out his life celibate in a monastery, but I like him. :D

He is nice, Don, I used to have one that looked just like him. I logged alot of online hours trying to id that guy!

Kim

Hmm,no one asked me!
This fish is shown in my 2006 Safaris Pics.

Pseudotropheus sp. elongatus "yofu bay" at Likoma Island

Obviously fairly common,,,if it has a Noth American distribution.
Up here a few years back it was the elongatus from Ndumbi Rocks which is located just outside the mouth of Yofu Bay.
In that case (Nudumbi Rocks fish) the females were yellowish/biege/golden.The males looked similar to the ones at Yofu,but they were fairly easy for me to tell apart.
Both fish are often called Ps.sp.elongatus "likoma",,,which is basically correct,but Ndumbi Rocks is not part of this Island and the fish are only similar.
Each bay and pile of rocks around Likoma Island would have a similar colored Elongatus but may differ slightly.

Hope this helps!

Cheers!!! Larry 4larry

Hmmmm What's very cool is that the speckled color on the light bars on the Yofu Bay exactly replicates the pattern on my guy. I have not seen that pattern on any other Mbuna exceot those that resemble him, and it's beautiful.

The realist in me recognizes that there's a Melanochromis-style horizontal bar in my guy that is not on the Elongatus Yofu Bay. So I feel like I have a much better idea of his roots, but I still cannot let him reproduce. It's nice to know better where he comes from, though.

I've seen plenty of fish in Chinatown LFS's (where I originally got him) that look like they share the same roots but are several generations more hybridized than my guy, as if someone has a big vat of them and they keep churning out fry, in-breeding young ones and producing ever-more hybridized fish. Broken bars, erratic patterns, etc.

Anyway, thanks so much Larry for helping me out on this one. I think you nailed 75%+ of my Elongatus' DNA, and if you buy my 25% Melanochromid theory then I have him pretty well pegged.