where do red zebras originate?

i know. free food. lol. (not to sound harsh or nething, but it is true and this is the best deal i cud find. . . so ya. . . .)
 
tarheels910 said:
Not a purebred Red Zebra. You have an OB (Orange Blotch/Blossom).
Click to expand...
Many red zebras are refereed to by slightly different names, ours is a male and has a little different markings than the female, that was a pic i took when he was younger, the red has come in around the eyes, and a little more detail around the tail fin..the RZ we have is the closest specimen Ive seen in 5 years, there are alot of hy-breds out there that confuse hobbyists.......:)

art_Met_estherae001.jpg
This is one of the most popular, and most commonly kept African Cichlid, and for good reason. You will find that some sites will call this fish a Maylandia estherae due to a disagreement within the scientific community on the Genus name. More can be read about that here. This fish can also be found in some places under Pseudotropheus estherae, or even Pseudotropheus zebra, both archaeic names. You will find it in the pet stores often sold as the Red Zebra, the Red x Red Zebra, OB x Red Zebra, or the Blue x Red Zebra.
While this fish is found in a number of locales in Lake Malawi, it is principally collected from Minos Reef for the aquarium trade. The majority of the males at this location are a bright blue colour, with a hint of barring at times. There are also Orange/Red males at this location, though Ad Konings suggests this is only about 1% of the population. In addition to the Blue and Orange Males, there are OB males. Ad Konings has only ever seen one in all of his dives at Minos Reef, and suggests that this colour represents only about 0.1% of the natural population of estherae at Minos Reef.
Most of the females are Orange/Red in colour. There are also OB females, and while they are more plentiful then the males, they still only represent about 2-5% of the natural population.
art_Met_estherae002.jpg
The "Red Zebra" first appeared in the Aquarium Hobby in the fall of 1973, and commanded a pretty heft price due to its brilliant colouration. At some point in the mid 70's, a few "Red/Orange" males were imported, and these were used as the foundation breeding stock, whereby they were line bred to produce only these "Red/Orange" males. For several decades, this Red x Red (Red males, Red females), were the only available colour that one could purchase the estherae. In the late 90's, wild specimens began to be captured again, as the political situation began to stabilize. OB line bred strain made an appearance, about that time as did Blue males.
 
You still have an OB with very few blotch marks.

The real Metriaclima Estherae is very hard to find in the hobby today. The real Red Zebra has blue males and red females.
 
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