What is an "orange blotch zebra"?

[Ashwin Ram]

I recently bought two so-called "orange blotch zebras" (African
cichlids) from a local aquarium store. They claimed they were
Pseudotropheus but didn't know anything else about them. Does anyone
know their scientific name and/or has pointers to a site with
information about this fish?

E-mail would be appreciated.

Thanks.
Ashwin.

[Tina]

I have seen the Pseudotropheus brevis sometimes called and "Orange Mbuna", and I've seen Pseudotropheus zebra that are orange with blotches. Common names change so much from place to place. Try looking up these two and see if any of the pic are similar.

Not a lot of help sorry.......................Tina

[Ashwin Ram]

Thanks for the pointers. I found the following pages:

http://trans4.neep.wisc.edu/~gracy/fish/cichlids/melanochromis/brevis/
http://trans4.neep.wisc.edu/~gracy/fish/cichlids/pseudotropheus/zebra/

for the two you mentioned. The former has no picture, unfortunately, but it does sound like what I had. The aquarium store says they are Pseudotropheus zebra. It's possible that they've been bred to look like this but are not "natural".

Ashwin.

[The Leopard Woman]

Ashwin Ram wrote:
>
> Thanks for the pointers. I found the following pages:
>
> http://trans4.neep.wisc.edu/~gracy/fish/cichlids/melanochromis/brevis/
>
> http://trans4.neep.wisc.edu/~gracy/fish/cichlids/pseudotropheus/zebra/
>
> for the two you mentioned. The former has no picture, unfortunately,
> but it does sound like what I had. The aquarium store says they are
> Pseudotropheus zebra. It's possible that they've been bred to look
> like this but are not "natural".

They are zebras, most likely, and are natural. They would be considered
Pseudotropheus zebra sp. ":orange blotch". These do occur naturally in the
lake, but probably not in the numbers seen in stores. I've got a tank full of
fry now, and they are good-looking fish!
--
柚eg (make sure there are no spots when you reply)
* * * * * * * * *
Believe those who are seeking the truth. Doubt those who find it.
- Andre Gide

[liv2...@interpath.com]

Mate-recognition in some widely distributed mbuna, notably Pseudotropheus
(zebra), Labeotropheus (fuelleborni and trewavasae) and Genyochromis
(mento) is not based purely on male coloration but additionally on shape
and behaviour. This results in females selecting males irrespective of
color pattern and it is only in these species that (O) orange and (OB)
orange-blotch morph coloration has evolved. In these species a limited
number of females are, instead of the beige or brown more typically noted
in other genera, completely orange (O) or orange with black blotches (OB).
This orange color is actually a lack of black pigment rather than a true
orange gene. The very rare OB males of those genera previously mentioned
are called marmalade cats (the name is derived from the chiChewa word
namakate used for all OB mbuna. Their coloration is very rarely (O) or
(OB) but more typically a blue based blotch. They also occur as blue
tinged base color (OB). Studies have shown that marmalade cats are
primarily the result of an OB parental male or a cross between a 'normal'
male and orange female. It has been theorized that the OB morph has
developed in response to predator stress and is a camouflage notation
based on the narrow limits of territory habitation of the females. There's
alot more to the OB morph characteristic than i've described here
including localization, territoriality, breeding specialization and more
--- but this will get you started. If you want more let me know.
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[The Leopard Woman]

You've got me intrigued about my fish. I bought an OB zebra about 1 1/2 years
ago, along with a albino zebra. Turns out that the OB is male and the albino
is female, and they have spawned two batched of fry, both OB in appearance.
They are pretty orange, but they are still small enough that it is difficult
to tell if the dark patches are blue or black. They do have the classic zebra
shape, however. What do you think I've got here? I thought for sure that my OB
zebra was female until I saw him spawning with the female albino...
--
—Meg (make sure there are no spots when you reply)