Richard Posted March 23, 2004 Share Posted March 23, 2004 Hey guys, I purchused some leptosoma privately off the trading post recently and they were sold to me as "Mplungu"... Well after long reaseach i found a picture of a "mplungu" leptosoma and it loosk like this C. leptosoma "mpluungu". Where as mine looks like this Like my leptosoma What type of cyp is mine? There are some pics of my coloy on my website which is in my signature. cheers Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted March 23, 2004 Share Posted March 23, 2004 Hi Richard, The fish you say looks like yours is C. leptosoma "Utinta". It displays the "Utinta characteristic dorsal spot, which is a defining feature of the variety. The picture on your site is not very clear, but they don't appear to have a spot in their dorsals at all. The link to "Mpulungu" you provided, shows a fairly average "Mpulungu". The variety is usually very similar to Utinta in colour intensity - a very pretty fish. I'd have to say that your fish are "Mpulungu", but naturally, it's hard to be sure without seeing them. Cheers, Andrew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anchar Posted March 23, 2004 Share Posted March 23, 2004 Hi Andrew, I knew the "utinta" exhibits blue or yellow tails in the males, but was unaware that "mpulungu" did . I agree that the second picture shows "utinta" but I'm suprised that the first one is labelled as "mpulungu" (mine do not really look like that and the males all have yellow tails - no blue). Does someone else have some better shots of the "mpulungu"? This is a photo of one of my young males My Webpage merjo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted March 23, 2004 Author Share Posted March 23, 2004 Hey guys, Merj: My male looks liek yours just a orange tail. And no stong blue on his top body. He wasnt the dominant male in his old colonie, maybe my guys not showing his full potential? But still it doesnt explain what variant mine is cheers Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.Lee Posted March 23, 2004 Share Posted March 23, 2004 i agree with the others, it does display all characteristics of a 'utinta' leptosoma. Also that 'mpulungu' pic u linked to is very average and does no justice for the fish. cheers lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted March 23, 2004 Author Share Posted March 23, 2004 Hey guys, Thanks for the help so far guys. Im thinking my male might be Utinta but theres different variants ive seen of Untinta such as some with yellow tails. Mine has a yellow tail but its not as dark and strong orange. also hes not as blue either. Ill try to get soem better shots. cheers Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewP Posted March 23, 2004 Share Posted March 23, 2004 That fish of yours looks very much like Utinta Flourescent. It has the black spot of utinta fluo and that orange blotch above it, it also has some vertical barring which the fluo has. There is another variety called Utinta Bay (similar to fluo but less blue colouration), both these have been brought into the country and unfortuantly mixed, misnamed and stuffed around like the peacocks. Leptos are truly the Tangs version of the peacock. I could go on for ages about the subject but all I will say is Buy German imports that you can view on the list yourself if you are truly serious about breeding a definite strain, or make sure the breeder you bought them from can guarantee you their origin. Unfortuantly a number of "Slangword for unintelligent" fishshops bought either the Bay or Fluo of lists and sold them purley as the Utinta without ID any further. You can be guaranteed many Utintas out there now sold privately are a mix. PS. All cyps will display some version of polymorphism (multiple colours for same fish). In some fish just the tails are different as in the case of Utinta Bay, Utinta Fluo, mpulungu, malasa - (blue and Yellow). ANd in others such as the Jumbo mpimbwe, kitumba and speckleback the whole fish can be different in colour from its brothers, or go through different colour stages. Regards Andrew Pearson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted March 23, 2004 Share Posted March 23, 2004 I was actually informed by several overseas experts that Utinta Bay and Utinta Flourescent are the same fish. Apparently, the Utinta Flourescent was a name concocted by one of the larger exporters, as a way of renewing interest in the fish when they were overstocked - and no, it's not one of the exporters that has sent fish to this country (but it worked a treat and made them lots of moolah!). Yes, "Mpulungu" (also known as "Blue Flash") does indeed have both yellow and blue tailed males. See here... Richard, the picture on your personal web page, shows what looks like a group of "Mpulungu" to me. But as I said, it's very difficult without a clearer picture. If you could organise one and link it to this thread, we could probably tell you much more. Hope this helps, Andrew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewP Posted March 26, 2004 Share Posted March 26, 2004 When cyps first came into the country there were three, first the malasa, then the mpulungu and utinta bay. The utinta bay looked very similar to me to the malasa. Had the blue but not abundant amounts. Then I saw the fluo a few years back and it appeared different to the bay. The fact is that more than one type of cyp has come from the Utinta Bay area. A few years back I corresponded with Eric GENEVELLE who operates the Tanganykian cichlids web site, he travels to the lakes for many month each year and catches fish. During discussions with him on email he told me that bay and fluo are different, seperated by the more blue on the fluo. Possibly they are the same fish, or even live together as many cyps do in the wild. It is common to see large schools of different types living together. When it comes down to it know one really knows. Even Eric stated that it is sometimes impossible to tell some of the differnet types apart, or know if two that look the same are related. Last i knew the scientific research had not been done to seperate different morphs, so this was done by using locality names as in peacocks. The truth is as stated from Eric that many of the cyps are thesame fish only varying slightly in colouration due to seperation or other unknown factors. Hope this clears things up LOL Regards AndrewP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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