The flavescent peacock is sold under a dozen different names, and its color runs from blue to yellow to red depending on which part of Lake Malawi the population comes from. In practice, several forms that hobbyists once treated as separate species now sit inside Aulonocara stuartgranti, and one of them, the Maleri form, is…

The sunshine peacock is one of the most popular yellow cichlids in the hobby, and it is rated Critically Endangered in the wild. In practice, both statements hold at once: the fish is bred in large numbers in captivity, while its only recorded wild population, on a single Lake Malawi reef, has been hit hard…

Maylandia estherae spent more than twenty years in home aquariums before it had a scientific name. In practice, the fish sold as a red zebra is often a line-bred strain that differs from the wild animal, which is why its colors surprise people who expect the name to describe the whole species. This guide covers…

The kenyi cichlid is sold to beginners as a cute, blue-and-white striped juvenile, and it grows into one of the most aggressive mbuna in Lake Malawi. In practice, the original 1977 description already flagged the trait that makes the species so recognizable: reversed sexual coloration, with adult males turning bright yellow while females stay blue…

Stocking advice for the demasoni cichlid runs from one male with a few females to a colony of twelve or more, and the gap between those recommendations is the most useful thing to understand before buying. In practice, every source agrees on the underlying problem: this tiny Lake Malawi mbuna is fiercely aggressive toward its…

Melanochromis auratus does something genuinely unusual among cichlids: adult males wear the literal negative image of what females and juveniles look like. In practice, this reversed color pattern makes the species instantly recognizable, but it also masks a real problem lurking behind the cheap price tag and easy availability: this is one of the more…