

And most importantly, all other color morphs, growing up, fully corresponded to the declared abbreviation. The main forms were as follows: double red - Red Red (RR), red-blue - Red Blue (females are red, males are blue-blue by the way, a morph completely lost for the domestic mass fish offer), white - W (white), piebald. The fish were called simply and unsophisticatedly Ps.zebra, then the designation of the color of the fish was added for orientation in color varieties. White and red zebra - white and red fish, etc.Īccording to the then classics, the entire complex of Malawian zebras belonged to the genus Pseudotropheus. Then, one might say, I was just beginning my journey as an aquarist and didn’t really bother with the strange coloration of the male, on the contrary, at that time it seemed obvious to me: two red zebras - two red fish. So, the male was an absolute copy of the female, i.e. And secondly, in the year 1986, I bought a pair of red zebras on the old “Bird” (the accumulated “school” money was not enough for more), which a year later successfully grew into heterosexual fish and began to actively breed. It would seem that let them be what they are, but then what? Who cares?īut, firstly, I was terribly curious why no one in more than 30 years of cultivation history of red zebras publicly asked the question of the discrepancy between appearance and name. From the Moscow, or better to say, from the domestic, "zebra" all the same white-red fish grew. But the trouble is, these arguments were not confirmed by practice. When breeding fry, both red and white males must grow up. It is believed that the light color of males is a xanthor form of red "zebras", a consequence of a natural mutation. At this point, anyone will be indignant and ask: “How so ?! Why did two, let’s say, “objects” of red color turn into one red and one white?” But aquarists do not make any claims, they take this curious fact for granted and calmly continue to buy and sell double red, although there is a single red there. It would seem, what could be easier: ask the store for a double and red and be surprised when they bring red and white. And yet the line continues to be called double red, despite the apparent discrepancy in appearance. The fry of zebra pseudotropheus, which, it must be said, initially have a common red color, change color as they mature: males become whitish, less often milky white, but achieving an adequate red color in individuals of both sexes is a big problem. How many years I have been dealing with Malawian cichlids and all the time I inevitably face the problem: why are these Malawian fish - red zebras called double red morph? I mean, of course, not the real double red zebra, but those fish that are massively sold under this name in our country. Pseudotropheus red zebra (Metriaclima estherae) is a Malawian cichlid that has long been loved by aquarists around the world. PSEUDOTROFEUS RED ZEBRA - (Metriaclima estherae)
