When A Brichardi (Daffodil) Is Not A Brichardi By Trevor Menzies

In my article in the last edition of Tank Talk (Vol.26 no.1), I wrote that I had purchased and subsequently bred Neolamprologus brichardi “daffodil”. After the article was published, one of the members said that I may have the wrong species name. Being curious about what he said, I started to do some homework – a task that I had thought I had left behind me 45 years ago.

 

Not having a computer and access to the Internet, I did my research the old fashioned way, searching though books. Not so easy. Whoever named this fish must have been a mate of Ed Konnings because it seems to me that the experts give a different name to fish when they have only slight variations in colour and markings. We are lucky they (the namers) were not let loose to name us. Anyway, back to the core topic of this article.

 

The two main species that seem to be the most common are the Neolamprologus brichardi (Fairy Cichlid). There are also others within the “brichardi Complex” such as Albino, Kasegera, Kigoma and Kiku. Several species within the brichardi Complex such as those named above are commonly referred to as “Fairy Cichlid”. It is worth noting that some of the above species were imported into the USA in 1995 but are not common or unknown in the Australian market place.

 

The brichardi Complex is made up of the following species: L. brichardi, L. pulcher, L. facicula, L. gracilis and L. crasus. As the picture to the left illustrates, the mark that seems to separate the above species from the L. species (Daffodil) is a black sideways “T” marking on the cheek/gill area. While this “T” marking appears on the other species in the complex, L. species (Daffodil) has two black parallel markings on or near the cheek/gill. Also, as the name “Daffodil” implies, these fish have a yellow colouring.

 

After all this homework, I have concluded that the fish that I have bred are indeed Daffodils. Regardless of their name, they are a great, beautiful strong-willed fish. They are also fantastic parents for their fry.