Herichthys labridens

Cichlidae

Huasteca potosina, Mexico

Males are said to attain 30 cm TL (mine are smaller), females are smaller, roughly 15 cm or so.

The fish is identified by markings on the dorsal and anal fins. The body is bulkier by comparison to other labridens and shows some green marks on the dorsal fin. "There are two recognized forms of C. labridens which can be distinguished on the basis of the habitats they occur in. The two populations differ with respect both to their external and internal morphology; the riverine "yellow labridens", found only in the Rio Verde and Santa Maria rivers, exhibits an elongate body and rounded anterior profile, while the morph found restricted to the springs of the Rioverde valley possesses a steeper forehead with a prolonged 'snout' and deeper body. Other distinguishing features exhibited by C. labridens and shared by all members of the labridens complex include: a scaleless area of red to purple behind the base of the pectoral fin, a small slightly sub-terminal mouth with a slightly overshot upper jaw profile and small brown spots speckling the head region. Light blue spangles cover most of the body and fins of both forms." (2)

Females tend to be smaller than males.

Endemic to Mexico, it can be found both in rivers (riverine form) and in laces (lacustine form). My own specimens originate from the Media Luna Channel (Media Luna Spring in the Panuco river drainage).

7.5 or higher

The recommended temperature for these fish is usually 22º C - 28º C (riverine form) and 25º C - 32º C (lacustrine form). (1).  I experimented with my colony to test their tolerance to low temperatures so I grew them without  heaters in the tank, which resulted in the fish having extremely slow growth rate. When the water temperature reached the lower edge (18° C) they did not show any symptom of stress but appeared to fall in a 'dormant' state, though they were still feeding. Similarly when the water temperature rose (thus mimicking the approach of spring/summer) they begun to gain size faster and faster.

Admittedly the lower recorded termperature of 18° C  has been the exception rather than the rule and the tank had this temperature for really short periods of time. I mention my observation regarding the temperature for the record; I would not recommend keeping the fish in this temperature as I am not convinced it is 100% safe. I would advise keeping these fish in temperatures within the recommended ranges though my point is that if something goes wrong and the temperature drops in my experience the fish are hardy enough to withstand lower temperatures. I have not kept fry in such low temperature; I am not convinced they will survive. Having said that, fish keeping is not mathematics and nature keeps surprising us: as soon as you go beyond the fundamentals there are no 'exact' rules.

Lives in clear cool waters, on a substrate of mud, sand and sediment. Large rocks and driftwood are common while water plants are rare in some of the habitats.

The fish are mainly carnivores. It will eagerly accept cichlid pellets, flakes, tablets,  fresh or frozen food including boiled vegetables. A carotene rich diet rich in breeding season enhances their intense colours. (1) In nature fish living in lagoons (Lacustrine) are reported to feed on snails and detritus. Riverine fish are reported to feed on crustaceans, seeds, plant material and insects. Mine literally “go crazy” when fed with small (enough to be cracked/chewed) Apple snails (Ampullaria or Pomacea bridgesi).

I gave a try to five Torichthys maculipinnis including an exceptionaly large male and the cohabitation was not successful. Large – aquarium bred – livebearers were also killed almost on the spot (immediately after being released in the tank) to my utter surprise since these fishes share, in the wild, the same environment.

Considering my experience (see Compatibility above) my only suggestion is catfish. I keep my colony with an Ancistrus sp. III trio and a wild, lonely, small sized (likely) Panaque coming from the Peruvian Amazon jungle (collected in 2000). The bristenoses even bred once though none of the youngsters survived.

400 liters or larger (be conservative if the fish are kept in group). Long tanks are preferred to shorter ones as this species is highly aggressive.

Large quarters will make things easier in terms of avoiding aggression outbreaks and / or ensuring there is no losses from such behaviour. Keeping a large breeding group (consisting of 12 fish instead of one or two pairs) resulted in a lower aggression rate among conspecifics. This may be due to the fact that the dominant male has to divide his attention to different targets / possible intruders and thus does not target one or two specific individuals. It is also worth adding that during the breeding period only the dominant male and his chosen female get the breeding colours. The remaining males maintain their regular colouration while the rest of the females assume an interim colouration, displayed initially to attract the dominant male prior to him chosing his mating partner.

I usually do a water change every two to three weeks. I change up to 400 liters of water which is over 50% of the gross capacity of the tank with no problem at all. Make sure the new water is of the same or similar temperature to the one you are changing to avoid temperature shocks.