Fish (mis)Identification

[OllieNZ]

Hi All
I have recently found out the Lake Tanganyika shell dwellers I have had for nearly a year now are not Lamprologus multifasciatus but Lamprologus brevis http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/n_brevis.php A similarly sized and coloured fish with very diffent behavior and breeding habits.

^The fish looked similar to this when I purchased them just a plain sandy colour

^And like this once they coloured up.
Key visual differences between the two species are: a purple cresent under the eye of the brevis(visible in the first pic), brevis have a squared off tail fin multies are rounded and multies have narrower tiger like stripes as opposed to the blockier more iregular pattern of the brevis(this is no good if the fish are stressed as they will fade to an all over sandy colour).

My apologies to those I have given advice to based on my experiences with what I bought as Multies.

That said these little guys are an interesting fish and unlike other shellies dont feel the need to dig and bulldoze in your substrate making them ideal in a planted tank.

Regards
Ollie

 

[Derek Tweedie]

Those were one of the first cichlids I bred. Absolute cracking fish. A must have for a rift tank in my opinion .

 

[cheebs]

hehe! At least you enjoy them, thats what counts. Arent the Brevis a bit bigger too?

Just as a FYI, there is also another species very similar (even more so actually) to the multis, and that is Lamprologus similis. The only difference is that the stripes go a bit further towards its nose with the multis IIRC... or maybe its the other way around

 

[OllieNZ]

I believe multis and similis are very similar in behavior(both are colony forming) as well as looks(brevis live in pairs). Not sure on the size difference but my dominant male is a good 2"

 

[cheebs]

Yeah, they are amazingly similar. I could only just tell the difference when I saw both in tanks near each other at ADC in London.

My largest male multi is about 1.5 inches i guess.