OB PEACOCKS

Subject: OB PEACOCKS 10/19/2012, 6:25 pm

October 19, 2012

OB Peacocks
by Brett Harrington (Fogelhund)
OB Peacocks are a man made cross bred species, not a naturally occurring fish at all. The name "OB" is used to describe the varying black "blotches" that occur in many cichlid species. The originally discovered "OB"'s were "orange blotched", orange as you would expect, but the name has stuck and is used to describe all "blotched" fish, including those that are more pink/white, than orange. You will see quite a variety of colours on these fish, including varying degrees of blues, reds and yellows, as well as the pinkish/white background, and the dark blotches.

The exact lineage of OB Peacocks is unknown, but a number of fish have been hypothesized to be used in these breedings. It seems likely that a species of Aulonocara was used and possibly a Haplochromine from Lake Malawi such as Scienochromis fryeri. To obtain the "blotched" genetics, another group of fish would have been utilized, as the OB trait does not occur naturally in Lake Malawi Aulonocara or the Lake Malawi Haplochromis group. Many people have hypothesized that it could be an OB mbuna from Lake Malawi, and that certainly is possible, but so is one of the Lake Victorian basin Haplochromines such as Paralabidochromis chromogynos. It should be noted that while some fish sources call this fish Aulonocara OB, it is most certainly not an Aulonocara, and should be called OB Peacock, given its hybrid origins.

First Lieutenant Posts : 635 Location : Cancun Mexico

Interesting story since I and Steve Somameyer collected OB Peacocks in a lake north of Lake Victoria in the mid 80s. The lake was very acidic. Also collected what we called bluebeery zebras.We brought the zebras back with us. I haven't seen them avalible for about 15 years.