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(Lepidio?)(Neo?)Lamprologus "hequi"


poxboy

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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 thumb.gif .

Bretto.

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...and to add injury to insult, I just parted with 70 odd for $3.00 each ohmy.gif

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 smile.gif

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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 smile.gif.

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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.

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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 smile.gif. No promises though tongue.gif.

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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 dry.gif .

Cheers,

Jason

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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 sad.gif. 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??

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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 blink.gif

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

thumbsupsmileyanim.gif

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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.

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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.

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It is beyond me as to whether they are meeli or hecqui...I have been told different things dry.gif 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 huh.gif

merjo smile.gif

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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?

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