Pseudocrenilabrus from Congo?

[nwfishgeek]

How does the undescribed species call Pseudocrenilabrus sp. Baria Gold fit into all this?

[Rico Morgenstern]

Do you mean "Beira Gold"?

Beira is a city at the mouth of the Pungwe river in Mozambique, the Pseudocrenilabrus species reported from that area is Ps. philander. However, all pictures of the so called "Beira Gold" that I could find show Pseudocrenilabrus multicolor victoriae. I think that the use of the name "Beira Gold" has to do with the confusion of the two species:

At least in the older aquarium literature as well as in the trade, Ps. multicolor victoriae (I believe that victoriae should be considered a distinct species rather than a subspecies of multicolor, but this is another topic...) is also nearly exclusively missidentified as Ps. philander dispersus. [...]
There's little resemblance between the two confused species, and I think the reason for the misidentification (which came up in Germany) is, that Ps. philander dispersus was treated in the "classical" aquarium literature such as Sterba's "Freshwater fishes of the world" but was not or rarely available as aquarium fish when victoriae became established in the hobby. So there was a Pseudocrenilabrus which was not identical with the very popular Ps. multicolor and there was the name of a related species (in a book which then was a standard reference for identifying aquarium fish) without an adequate illustration - an ideal base for confusion.

Among the Pseudocrenilabrus philander imported to Europe before the 2nd World War there were to different forms shipped from Beira, these (and a third which came from Namibia) are the fishes referred to in the literature mentioned. Although succesful spawning is reported from one of these (the "small form from Beira" of Sterba and other authors), it became possibly extinct from the hobby during the war. What remained was the information in the literature, and like the name philander dispersus, a supposed origin (Beira) could well be associated erroneously with P. m. victoriae.

RM

[taeniopareius]

When viewing group of dominant males in very big tank some males turn out to have blue chest too.

Anyway I have to retract my previous statement: males can be nasty toward conspecifics [and other fishes that try to challenge him seriously], and if there is no other equally strong individuals to match he can become living hell for his kins. They still go along fine with other fishes though.

[Youenn]

Hi,

Pseudocrenilabrus cf. nicholsi from DRC. Location: Kikondja, Lake Kisale.

[taeniopareius]

These are wild fish?

[Youenn]

8) These are wild fish?

Yes

[Rico Morgenstern]

Thanks for sharing this picture, Youenn!

It is interesting to see that there appears to be no obvious geographic variation. The P. nicholsi usually available in the hobby are probably descendants of fish from near Kisangani. Your fish lack the distinct pelvic fin extensions which are are characteristic for this species, but from my own observations, they are often damaged or bitten off during fights and do not always regenerate fully.

RM