Electric Yellow Cichlid (Labidochromis caeruleus)

Common Name:

Electric Yellow Cichlid.

Other Name:

Yellow Lab., Yellow Labidochromis, Pearl Labidochromis, Blue streak hap.

Scientific Name:

Labidochromis caeruleus.

Family:

Cichlidae.

Class:

African.

Distribution:

The northwest coast of Lake Malawi.

Size:

Approx 3 inches.

Diet:

Small aquatic invertebrates found on rocks, in the wild. In captivity, they will take a wide range of commercially prepared foods. Dietary carotene is necessary in order to keep the electric yellow color of the most famous morph.

Water Temperature:

75-79 degrees Fahrenheit (24-26 degrees Celsius) .

Water Chemistry:

Hard water, dH of 10-11, pH: 7.5-9.0.

Lifespan:

10 years.

Description:

The standard electric yellow variant is a small, rock-dwelling Malawian cichlid. It is, as the name states, a bright yellow. Its dorsal fin is 1/3 covered with a horizontal black stripe that ends just below the tip. The same goes for the anal fin (which also fades to white at the very tip of the fin). There also exist the Malawian egg spots on said fin. The leading edge of the pectoral fin is white and that half of the fin is black and fades into the yellow just as the fin meets the body.

Most other morphs have lighter yellows that fade to a washed-out color as one's eye progresses from the dorsal surface to the ventral surface. These fish also have baby blue anal fins.

There are also morphs where the yellow is completely replaced by a baby blue.

Behaviour:

There are mbuna and there are mbuna, which come complete with the anger and territoriality expected of cichlids. Fortunately, these belong to the former group. Thus, they are among the most popular Malawian cichlids. They won't try to hold territory as much as the others, so they will do well in a tank full of conspecifics. They are so gentle that mouth brooding females won't be harassed by conspecific tank mates!

Sexing:

Other than an anecdotal increase in the level of black in the lower fins of the males, some say that size (larger for males) and more severe forehead contours for males are indicators. These remain hard to sex, though.

Breeding:

These fish mouth brood but, unlike most other mouth brooding Malawians, the brooding females rarely feel threatened by conspecifics and can thus stay in the display tank. Fry from the electric yellow morph, once spit by the female, should be fed baby brine shrimp for the first month or two. (This helps give the carotene necessary to keeping that yellow coloration.)

Natural Conditions

Since they are Malawian cichlids, Electric Blues are lacustrine fish that live in waters of high pH and hardness. They live between 10 and 40 meters deep. Thus, they are virtually uninfluenced by both water pressure and photosensitivity and will do well in a standard Malawi tank.

Minimum recommended tank size:

25 gallons.

Miscellaneous:

This fish has only been described once officially, and that was by Fryer (ironically, this individual was the namesake of another Electric cichlid, the Electric Blue) in 1953.

Photo Credit:

Photo 1 supplied courtesy and ^©JanS from Aquaden.
Photos 2-9 supplied courtesy and ^©Jake & Carroll