poxboy Posted March 10, 2005 Share Posted March 10, 2005 I came across these little guys in St george today, pretty stunning little fish. I think they were only $30 each, and looked active and colorful. A search on google for info has reurned nothing, so I'm guessing they must be one of those species who's taxonomy is still in question. Dose anyone know anything of this fish ? Any help would be great. Cheers . Bretto. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ducksta Posted March 10, 2005 Share Posted March 10, 2005 Search again, but spelled hecqui Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poxboy Posted March 10, 2005 Author Share Posted March 10, 2005 That's the one, cheers mate . They were labelled Lamprologus "hequi". My question is are they Nelomprologus hecqui or Lepidiolamprolgus hecqui ? Bretto. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colfish Posted March 10, 2005 Share Posted March 10, 2005 hi Bretto Neolamprologus hecqui. [bOULENGER,1899] Ad Konings, TANG. CICHLIDS. great little shellies, have a go at 'em, you'll luuuv 'em price, at ?? wow, [i wonder how many they want] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calliurus Posted March 10, 2005 Share Posted March 10, 2005 Hi Bretto, These guys were changed to Lepidiolamprologus hecqui about the mid nineties. Mozza Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dobbin4 Posted March 10, 2005 Share Posted March 10, 2005 Sorry to be a pain, but $ 8 ea at sat auction,!!!!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anchar Posted March 10, 2005 Share Posted March 10, 2005 ...and to add injury to insult, I just parted with 70 odd for $3.00 each Anyway, they are a great fish and spawn regularly. My pair are housed in a tank approx. 18" cube. I leave the parents and fry together till the fry are around the 2cm size without losses (that I am aware of). IME they form a pair and the introduction of new fish usually ends in disaster. I tried adding another female once to see if they would form a harem and was forced to promptly remove the third fish. merjo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeW Posted March 10, 2005 Share Posted March 10, 2005 Hi Guys - Ad has indeed suggested that they should be moved ro Leipidiolamprologus. However, I think this is based on his observations alone, and I'm not sure theres much other solid science behind this. The valid name that is currently, as far as I am aware: Neolamprologus hecqui. If anyone can point me to the other appropriate information re: the name change, other than Ad's book please let me know . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poxboy Posted March 10, 2005 Author Share Posted March 10, 2005 $3, $8 ??? . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ducksta Posted March 10, 2005 Share Posted March 10, 2005 I'm sure a wanted ad in the classifieds would turn up some cheaper options than St George. Of course you may have to travel further and for the cost and effort St George might be your best option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeW Posted March 11, 2005 Share Posted March 11, 2005 I have a number of small N. hecqui fry at present (50 or more)... but only two (I think) that are larger (left overs from a lot I sold recently) and for sale. I'd be happy with $5 ea... email me and I'll scoure the tanks and see if I can russle up the two . No promises though . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddie Salita Posted March 11, 2005 Share Posted March 11, 2005 According to an importer in brisbane these fish are meelii. Not hequi. Aparrently hequi have never been brought into australia. The thread was on the qld cichlid forum a few months ago. This person specialises in importing tangs, so I tend to believe him, but most every store I know still sells them as hequi . Cheers, Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeW Posted March 11, 2005 Share Posted March 11, 2005 Jason - Assuming the pictures in Ad's books are right, the fish I have anyway (which I got at a NSWCS auction) dont appear to be N. meeli (they are look like the pictures of N.hecqui). In saying that - quite a few pics on the web appear to confuse the two also . So it could be a mistake. N. meeli has been here since at least 1998 (I used to sell them at a LFS I worked at then). Is this a new importation?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddie Salita Posted March 12, 2005 Share Posted March 12, 2005 In saying that - quite a few pics on the web appear to confuse the two also . So it could be a mistake. So true. Do they even know which is which overseas It could be an importation, along with 'other' stuff in recent years. I will try to find the thread, as I dont want to dob anyone in. Just sharing the idea here. On a side note, I have actually had a male 'hequi' spawn with a female Lepidio attenuatus. Eggs werent viable however. I have long thought both species should be moved to this genus too. Cheers, Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeW Posted March 12, 2005 Share Posted March 12, 2005 Jason - Its interesting that the eggs werent viable - perhaps they are more distantly related to Lepidiolamprologus (and possibly infertile)? Who knows. Short of a large morphological/molecular study its very difficult to say. Presuming they are "new" imports they may be different to the "old stock" of N. meeli we used to have in Australia (and presumably still do). Ad Konings comments in his Tang Cichlids v.III that he has observed differences in the breeding behaviour of N. hecqui and N. meeli. N. meeli apparently will breed in harems while N. hecqui breeds in pairs. In my tank (which is obviously nothing like the lake itself) they breed in a harem (I have 1m: 2f: 1u). Though this could simply be an artifact of forcing 1m:2f to co-habit (something they may not do in the wild). Konings also observes N. meeli to have a single dark spot in the middle of their flanks - while N. hecqui, at least while breeding, is reported as having ireggular blotches on the flanks (which is certainly true of my fish - which are irregularly patterned). I'll see if I can get some better photos of them. David. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akroyd Posted March 12, 2005 Share Posted March 12, 2005 We glossed over this before: http://ace.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=11392&hl= I still think I'm right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddie Salita Posted March 12, 2005 Share Posted March 12, 2005 Thats kinda what I thought. I cannot find the thread. The search function is somewhat useless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colfish Posted March 12, 2005 Share Posted March 12, 2005 they breed in a harem (I have 1m: 2f: 1u). hi Dave you were lucky to have yours form a harem. my ferals self culled to a pr. not even the girls tolerate one another. but once this was sorted out they settled down and have produced many fry i thought occies were tough in the self culling stakes. they don't hold a candle too these guys i do remember a post by Merjo,at one time, saying a shipment of hequi arrived in perth some time ago, and they looked a bit suss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The cichlid Man Posted March 12, 2005 Share Posted March 12, 2005 Sorry to butt in but Lams at Parramatta have the hecqui at a good size 5cm and they are at the breeding size. They were about $20 from memory. I saw the ones at st george and they were about 2-3cm. Hope this helps. Regards, Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anchar Posted March 12, 2005 Share Posted March 12, 2005 It is beyond me as to whether they are meeli or hecqui...I have been told different things One thing that has always puzzled me is the size difference. L. Hecqui supposedly grow quite a bit larger than the L. meeli....all the ones I have ever seen (full grown) have been relatively short, indicating that they maybe L. meeli. I really don't know merjo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akroyd Posted March 12, 2005 Share Posted March 12, 2005 By the way, up in Qld they're $12.95 ea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeW Posted March 12, 2005 Share Posted March 12, 2005 Akroyd - I'll try and get some better photos of mine. Are we right to assume there was (at least) two different imports of these fish? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akroyd Posted March 13, 2005 Share Posted March 13, 2005 G'day Dave, Some time ago I read an interesting paper that was written by the curator of fishes at an African Museum. From memory, this museum held the original holotype of N.hecqui from 1899. The important point from the article was that the curator stated that the fish in the hobby are not N. hecqui, and he suggested that it was probable that N. hecqui had never again been collected after 1899. I have also read, (possibly the same article) that the fish that others are calling N. hecqui are geographical variants of N.meeli. I'm not sure how many times N. meeli(our hecqui) has been imported, but I would have guessed only once. If there is variation between the specimens that we have in this country, it would have to cast doubt on the integrity of the species, as it would imply that we had unknowingly mixed different variants that had been imported at different times. Further, Lepidiolamprologous meeli is a different legally imported fish that may cause some confusion because of the similarity of naming. Having said that, I could well be wrong because I am quoting from memory from some time back, and I had only a passing interest as a hobbyist. It shouldn't be too hard for literature research on-line to turn up credible scientific references to clarify the situation? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crabros Posted March 15, 2005 Share Posted March 15, 2005 Hi there, These fish are here in the country. The name of the genus has changed to Lepidiolamprologus hecqui from Neolamprologus. Start looking for changes in books and magazines and from diffrent authors not just Ad.. HTH Brett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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