Thorichthys sp. 'coatzacoalcos' (AKA 'mixteco' blue)

[fevelasco]

Greetings! Although I have regularly visited The Cichlid Room Companion for years, I'm new to the Forum.

I am currently maintaining a group of F1 Thorichthys sp. 'coatzacoalcos' that I obtained as fry from the 2007 ACA Convention in Sacramento in a 72x24x18 aquarium. Some may be more familiar with the designation 'mixteco' for this undescribed Thorichthys. Mine represent the 'Blue' color form. I did note the excellent discussion thread about this fish on the Forum:
http://www.cichlidae.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=614

I don't have any good photographs of my fish, but I did manage to record a video showing a pair guarding their eggs and courting specimens exhibiting to each other:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGSIVmmzHYg

I have found them to be excellent parents and, for heroine cichlids, reasonably well-behaved citizens in a planted, community aquarium.

I would be interested in the impressions of those who've also kept this fish and/or observed it in its native habitat.

[MonteSS]

Your blues look great. How big are they?

I have a single 3" female "gold" from Rapps in my 75g female community tank. I had her 9 months and she did not grow much but was active and healthy. She was heavily dominated by a 5" female ellioti. I removed the Ellioti a couple months ago and the Mixteco is growing and coloring up nicely. I would assume she is still stunted growth. She does not use a cave much or guard a territory. She does duke it out with my clown loach every so often, but mostly keeps to herself.




...Bill

[fevelasco]

Thanks for your note and the nice photo of your fish.

My largest male is about 4" TL and the other two are slightly smaller. The females are about 3.5". Judging from mature specimens I've seen, I think mine will grow another 0.5" more. I recorded the video soon after moving them into a larger aquarium. They have "calmed down" considerably since then. Perhaps they were merely trying to establish territories in their new home. Also, two of the females are currently preoccupied tending wrigglers.

Previously, in a 40 gallon grow out tank, I kept them with some Cryptoheros nanoluteus. Although larger than the C. nanoluteus, they tended to be intimidated by their boisterous tankmates. I was surprised, however, that the dominant pair managed to spawn twice in this high density environment.

I have not kept the Gold morph of the 'Mixteco' so I could be mistaken, but I believe your specimen is a male. In the photos posted by @Grummie2 in the other thread ("Rio Misteco"), you'll notice that all of the females have black markings in the dorsal fin. I believe that for Thorichthys sp. 'coatzacoalcos' this sexual dimorphism is fairly reliable.

[fevelasco]

I was able to take some photos of my fish during courtship and now that the fry have reached the free-swimming stage. Photos are not of great quality, but they illustrate the vertical bar color pattern of parental fish.

Coloration of courting fish:

Male

Female (left), Male (right)

Parental coloration:

Female transferring fry from one pit in the gravel to another.

Male displaying at the camera in defense of fry

[MonteSS]

Great looking fish. GL with the fry

...Bill

[fevelasco]

Video of the parents tending the fry just as they reach the free-swimming stage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRR5hqLyuiE

Cichlid parents become very active when their offspring reach this developmental milestone.

[fevelasco]

I now have three pairs with fry in the same aquarium (two batches are free-swimming and another just hatched and are still wrigglers). The plants are really taking a beating. I was able to capture the interactions between the parents as they approached each other's territories on video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ClMYXXOJFM

[fevelasco]

Nearly a year later and the pairs continue to spawn regularly. The male of the dominant pair is over 6" TL and the female is about 4.5".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxz_oaMHdbA

[fevelasco]

The pair continue to spawn about once a month. The male is nearly 7" and the female is 5".

http://youtu.be/trgEmukwsEs?hd=1

[fevelasco]

Since my sponsorship for this still undescribed species was due for renewal, I thought I'd share some photos of my pair (which have continued to spawn regularly).

6" male

T. sp. coatzacoalcos male CRC.jpg (66.49 KiB) Viewed 795 times

4" female

T. sp. coatzacoalcos female CRC.jpg (56.93 KiB) Viewed 795 times

YouTube video: http://youtu.be/MLIWfI6ifmA?hd=1

[gnuisance]

Wow, its neat to see three years of growth in three consecutive posts. Thanks for sharing