| | Cynotilapia sp. ‘chinyankwazi’ | |
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+3nitty Holey Rock of Texas nick a 7 posters | Author | Message |
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nick a Sergeant
Posts : 113 Location : Austex
| Subject: Cynotilapia sp. ‘chinyankwazi’ 10/23/2009, 9:21 am | |
| Cynotilapia sp. ‘chinyankwazi’ From the moment I first saw pictures of this undescribed species, I have had a burning desire to add them to my Cyno. collection. I was very fortunate to be able to order six of these recently exported fish and receive a 3M:3F group. They were labeled as “Cyno. afra white top jumbo Chinyankwazi” at the importer’s site, but with just a minimal investigation I was sure they were not afras at all. Having the collection point information is absolutely fantastic and may prove to be critical (which we will discuss later). Juvenile F1 male: Adult WC male: Adult WC female: The pictures above will give you an appreciation of the color patterns and overall beauty of this species. A courting male will appear almost white, while a sub dominant male will fade to a dark blue. What you probably will not be able to tell from the pictures is how large they are relative to a typical afra type. My best (which is admittedly poor!) estimate is that the adult sp.‘chinyankwazi’ males in my group are in the 5-6” range. I consider a norm for afra types to be about 3.5”. Putting numbers aside and perhaps giving a better comparison; the chiny females are every bit as large as any afra male I‘ve ever had. I can only imagine what size potentials exist for tank raised (perhaps overfed?) specimens. The chinys are robust fish in height/width as well. They have adapted to a flake/pellet diet quite nicely. The fry are spit at a size roughly equivalent to a 1 month old afra fry. The fry are quick growers. The batch I have growing out has out-paced the Aulonocara lwanda juvies sharing the tank quickly. I will have to separate the two groups soon to allow the lwandas a chance to get some food! All parameters are the same as for other Cynotilapia species (and for Mbuna in general). The one thing I suggest due to their larger size is to house them in a larger tank. A 55 would be absolute minimum; a 75 would be better. I have my group in a 125 with groups of Tropheops sp. ‘red cheek’ and Metriaclima sp. ‘mbweca’. I’ve had this group for less than a year, so these observations on behavior are of the ‘so far’ type. The females don’t harass each other and there appears to be no pecking order amongst them. They are large enough that even the male Tropheops leaves them alone. The three chiny males have coexisted quite nicely. One is clearly dominant, but all three color-up occasionally. The picture above is of the dominant male in his 'courting' dress. Ripe females can show slight fin damage from the males’ ‘courtship’ efforts, but no real damage has ever been noted. The chiny males appear to be somewhat less territorial than afra type males. The only aggressive displays I’ve noted are concentrated around actual breeding times. Each male chooses a temporary love nest and spends large quantities of effort and energy trying to keep all other fish out while trying desperately to attract the ripe female in! When no females are ripe the entire group casually cruises through the tank; sometimes together, sometimes individually. I hope that this ‘so far’ behavior continues because this group has been a welcome addition to the tank and an as-rewarding-as-expected addition to my collection. Ad Konings notes that this species can be found at both Chinyankwazi and Chinyamwezi Islands as well as at a small reef between Chinyamwezi Island and the mainland. Ad further notes that “the three populations….are indistinguishable.”[1] He believes based on this identical morphology, “C. sp. ‘chinyankwazi’ probably populated these three habitats before they became geographically isolated from the mainland (i.e. when lake level was much lower.)” [2] However; and this is where the collection point data becomes a must, recent genetic research would seem to point us in the direction of having more than one species. Kassam, et al.; discovered “Another important finding is the genetic diversity unraveled between Cynotilapia sp.‘chinyamwezi’ and C. sp. ‘chinyankwazi’, in which the former is regarded as just a population of the latter. The genetic distance between these two (D=0.11) is even one of the largest among Cynotilapia species/taxa. With such differentiation, it can be suggested that there is little or no gene flow between these two and they can well be regarded as distinct species.”[3] While the technical lingo in the paper is miles over my head, I found this helpful: The bigger the D number, the farther apart the two samples. The two scientifically described species, C. afra and C. axelrodi, have a D of 0.03! In older references, Ad had listed Cynotilapia sp.‘chinyamwezi’ and Cynotilapia sp.‘chinyankwazi’ as separate species. It appears his initial instinct may have been correct. For the serious hobbyist, the proscription against mixing locale variants may be even stronger for this {or these} species. While the genetic data does not yet exist for the population at the reef, it would appear that the data warrants all possible efforts to not mix any fish from unknown collection points. Until further research is done and clarity is achieved, we can only do our best to keep the bloodlines clean. As these islands are part of Lake Malawi National Park, I would imagine that new imports will be few and far between. Out best bet is to preserve the integrity of those specimens we currently have in the hobby . 1 MALAWI CICHLIDS in their natural habitat, 4th Ed. Ad Konings, Cichlid Press, 2007, (pg. 69) 2 Ibid 3 Genetic diversity within the genus Cynotilapia and its phylogenic position among Lake Malawi’s mbuna cichlids. Kassam, et al., African journal of Biotechnology Vol. 4 (10), pp. 1195-1202, October 2005 First published in the HCCC newsletter, The Lateral Line, Vol.2,Issue 36, Dec. 2008
Last edited by nick a on 11/1/2011, 1:58 pm; edited 1 time in total | |
| | | Holey Rock of Texas Admin
Posts : 6531 Location : Dallas, TX Favorite Fish: : shellys
| Subject: Re: Cynotilapia sp. ‘chinyankwazi’ 10/23/2009, 12:09 pm | |
| i love reading your post!!! great info and well put together!!! thank you got sharring and the male looks amazing. i am sure with pic like that you would have a great chance and winning the monthly photo contest!!!! thank you!!!! | |
| | | nitty Moderator
Posts : 1906 Location : Houston/Atlanta Favorite Fish: : Mine:
110gal. Eclectochromis Lobochilus Hertae
56gal. Neolamprologus Brichardi
| Subject: Re: Cynotilapia sp. ‘chinyankwazi’ 10/28/2009, 6:25 pm | |
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| | | nick a Sergeant
Posts : 113 Location : Austex
| Subject: Re: Cynotilapia sp. ‘chinyankwazi’ 8/9/2010, 10:49 am | |
| Update 8-9-10 A nice looking young F1 male beginning to assert himself. | |
| | | istrober Moderator
Posts : 2643 Location : Lehigh Acres, Fl Favorite Fish: : Africans, Peacocks, Catfish.. pertty much everything that has fins and tail...
| Subject: Re: Cynotilapia sp. ‘chinyankwazi’ 8/9/2010, 10:51 am | |
| Awesome, nice colors and egg spots, do you have any females?? | |
| | | Holey Rock of Texas Admin
Posts : 6531 Location : Dallas, TX Favorite Fish: : shellys
| Subject: Re: Cynotilapia sp. ‘chinyankwazi’ 8/9/2010, 10:53 am | |
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| | | nick a Sergeant
Posts : 113 Location : Austex
| Subject: Re: Cynotilapia sp. ‘chinyankwazi’ 8/9/2010, 10:56 am | |
| Yes, I kept back parts of each WC female's offspring to form a group of about 5M/12F. | |
| | | KMX Admin
Posts : 16094 Location : Mansfield, TX Favorite Fish: : African Cichlids of all kinds.
| | | | Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: Cynotilapia sp. ‘chinyankwazi’ 8/9/2010, 11:02 am | |
| Great info.For pure bloodlines you are correct about knowing the collection point. |
| | | MarkM Lieutenant Colonel
Posts : 1324 Location : Prairieville, LA Favorite Fish: : If it swims and has fins and gills, I like it.
| Subject: Re: Cynotilapia sp. ‘chinyankwazi’ 8/9/2010, 11:36 am | |
| Awesome fish Nick. Absolutely stunning! | |
| | | BFinley Admin
Posts : 4498 Location : Fort Worth,Tx Favorite Fish: : Frontosa and Red Tail Catfish and All Africans
| Subject: Re: Cynotilapia sp. ‘chinyankwazi’ 8/9/2010, 12:05 pm | |
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