Amateur wrote:

Rob,
If you knew anything at....... Just kidding. I'm not the flaming type.
;-)

Heh...

This brevis was shot on the southeast Zambia shore. I too have seen some
online
pics of L. brevis that left something to be desired. Most of the brevis I
saw
in the lake were fairly colorful, though I only saw three pairs. =)

Must be a kick to see 'em _in situ_. I've only done marine diving so far,
but my interest in rift lake cichlids (Tanganyika in particular) and Africa
in general may lead me there at some point.

As for L. brevis: most of the ones I've seen in some of our better local
stores that carry a lot of good quality cichlids have also been fairly bland
in color - even the "Sunspots". This doesn't mean that I haven't been
tempted, but I have three very active L. ocellatus in my current tank who
just won't stop breeding and generally terrorizing everyone who comes near
their shells. Even in a relatively large tank I won't be adding any
potential competitors (although the normally rock-dwelling N. leleupi are
also known to breed in shells on occasion, and mine have been seen "sniffing
around" on occasion before my dominant male ocellatus drives them away
again).

- Rob