ID: Fish with war paint on it's face - Acarichthys heckelii

**hanna** · 23rd Sep 2008, 00:34

Alloz~!

Could you guys help me id this fish. It looks like a tilapia with war paint on it's face...

Thanks~!

**Trevor** · 23rd Sep 2008, 23:48

Looks like a stressed out Ram or Earth Eater?

**hanna** · 24th Sep 2008, 00:09

I was flipping some pictures and it looks similar to a dragon goby with the black vertical stripe through it's eye. Hmmm... anyone?

**whiskerbreed** · 24th Sep 2008, 00:28

Nope..Doesn't look like a goby.
Looks like some Geophagus sp.
An eartheater (it's a cichlid).

SuD

**hanna** · 24th Sep 2008, 00:41

Originally Posted by whiskerbreed

Nope..Doesn't look like a goby.
Looks like some Geophagus sp.
An eartheater (it's a cichlid).

SuD

Tilapia belongs to the cichlid family, right? no wonder it looks a little tilapia-like to me except for the black stripe through the eye.

Thanks for the info~!

**CK Yeo** · 24th Sep 2008, 06:48

This?

ck

**Matt Ford** · 24th Sep 2008, 23:31

Yup, young A. heckelii. These have an amazing method of reproduction in the wild in which the female digs a labyrinth of tunnels into the substrate. I found mine to be very aggressive with one another once they started to become sexually mature.