Colour Morphs

David Midgley - Like Aulonocara baenschi there are many hybrid colour morphs and aquarium populations of Aulonocara jacobfreibergi available. In Lake Malawi colour morphs have evolved without significant interbreeding between populations and it is important to strive to maintain this genetic and colour variation both in conservation efforts and in the tank of the hobbyist.

This article will show photos of the various natural and artificial colour morphs so names may be assigned to unknown varieties and confusion over this issue reduced. If anyone has other photos that I could use in this article I would be very grateful.

I was inspired to write this article when I recently bought a colony of Aulonocara jacobfreibergi 'Reginae' from a reputable fish dealer (Riverside Aquarium) in Sydney's south. I grew these eight fish up to breeding size and had hoped to add some new blood to the colony in the form of a few new females.

On ringing around various aquariums I found many generic A. jacobfreibergi strains of unknown colour morph/geographic location along with a large number of A. jacobfreibergi 'Eureka' and little else. A few aquarium staff helpfully informed me that the 'Eureka' morph and the 'Reginae' morph were one and the same.

With some help from Mark Coleman and associates along with some private research I discovered that the two morphs are quite actually quite different. A. jacobfreibergi 'Reginae' is a naturally occurring colour morph from Lake Malawi, I have been trying, unsucessfully to discern the location in Lake Malawi where the 'Reginae' morph is found, if anyone have any information please contact me. It has elongated orange ventral fins, a mainly blue swallow-shaped tail and a rusty orange "saddle" that runs from the top of the head along the upper flanks of the fish. In contrast A. jacobfreibergi 'Eureka' is not a naturally ocurring colour morph, it is a German line bred morph of A. jacobfreibergi 'Otter Point' and the "saddle" on this fish is distinctly red, as are parts of the ventral anal and tail fin.

The photos below are reproduced with the permission of the author or are believed in the public domain. Please do not redistribute copyrighted photos without permission.

Line Bred Colour Morphs

Aulonocara jacobfreibergi "Eureka"

Aulonocara jacobfreibergi "Albino Eureka"

Aulonocara jacobfreibergi 'Australian Aquarium Population I'

Naturally Occuring Colour Morphs

Aulonocara jacobfreibergi 'Reginae'

Aulonocara jacobfreibergi 'Hongi Island'

Aulonocara jacobfreibergi 'Mbowe Island'

Aulonocara jacobfreibergi 'Cape Maclear'

Aulonocara jacobfreibergi 'Undu Reef'

Aulonocara jacobfreibergi 'Undu Reef'

Aulonocara jacobfreibergi 'Boadzulu Island'

Aulonocara jacobfreibergi 'Otter Point'


It is important that we strive to maintain these colour/geographic morphs through breeding efforts and not hybridise different morphs. At the same time, it is important not to interbreed siblings and any attempts to source out different bloodlines must be applauded.

As the photos above demonstrate, there is significant colour variation which corelates with significant geographic variation. It is also worth noting that there is also much variation within morphs from the same location and some males appear much more brilliantly coloured than other males. For a breeder it is important to breed the best quality male available, as in the "Lakes" it is probably fair to assume that colouration plays a large role in mate selection by females.

My colony of A. jacobfreibergi 'Reginae' have settled in well to there 680 L tank, I have five females and three males. They share their home with some juvenile frontosa (Cyphotilapia frontosa 'Burundi'), and everyone seems to get along quite well.

The dominant male has coloured up completely while the two sub-dominant males retain fairly drab brown with some colour across the dorsal region. Although the females around only around 10-12 cm in length I have had three "mouthfuls" of fry already.

The tank is kept at 25^oC and buffered using a mix of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), calcium chloride (a pool water hardener), magnesium sulfate (epsom salts) and sodium chloride (non-iodized rock salt or sea salt) to a pH of approximately 8.5, the total hardness or gH is around 250-300ppm. Before I am attacked by any purists I should add as a quick aside, that the Lakes themselves contain very little sodium, however potassium can be difficult to source (in the form of potassium chloride) and I have not had any problems using sodium chloride.

The fish are fed once daily with a mixture of cichlid pellets, tropical flakes, mosquito wrigglers, earthworms and the homemade frozen foods. The females are allowed to hold for around 2-3 weeks before stripping into a fry tank.

Photo Credits:

A. jacobfreibergi 'Aquarium Population I' Photo: Simon Voorwinde @The Cichlid Tank
A. jacobfreibergi 'Undu Reef' Photo 1:Courtesy: Boester's cichlids and tropical fish
A. jacobfreibergi 'Undu Reef' Photo 2: Courtesy: Armke's Rare Aquarium Fish
A. jacobfreibergi 'Eureka Albino' Photo: Courtesy Armke's Rare Aquarium Fish
A. jacobfreibergi 'Hongi Island' Photo: Courtesy See African Diving Ltd. African Diving Ltd. reproduced with permission. Copyright © 2000.