The red jewel cichlids (Rubricatochromis, formerly Hemichromis) have been appearing in thermal waters in Central Europe for decades and seem to feel very much at home there. The first documented cases date back to the 1970s from the warm streams of Villach (Carinthia, Austria), but in the meantime they have appeared almost everywhere where the water temperature does not fall significantly below 20°C, even in winter. Apparently they are released there by people who have grown tired of the animals in the aquarium. This is – quite rightly – strictly forbidden! The only strange thing is that there have been so many releases of this cichlid species, as a large number of other cichlids are kept in aquaria much more frequently. There is a whole range of species in Rubricatochromis, but it is probably always R. guttatus, originally from coastal rivers in western Africa from Sierra Leone to Cameroon, that establishes itself in thermal waters.
The breeder writes to us about the origin of the “Yellow Sunshine”: “The parents come from a tributary of the Klinkenbach in Saarland (near the municipality of Schiffweiler). Until recently, this tributary was heated to a constant 30 degrees by a mine drainage system. However, the pit drainage was shut down in the autumn of 2024 and all the tropical fish that have established themselves there over the years (Molly, Guppy, Amatitlania nigrofasciata and the Rubricatochromis) have probably disappeared forever.”
A striking feature of these Rubricatochromis “Yellow Sunshine” is the lemon yellow body color. In principle, Rubricatochromis guttatus is a polychromatic fish species, i.e. there are numerous color variants within one and the same population. In wild-caught specimens you will usually find all the transitions from moss green to deep red and the number of highlights (iriodophores) varies between barely present and starry sky-like. Aquarists usually select animals for breeding that are as red as possible and adorned with as many iriodophores as possible, which led to the breeding form marketed as “R. lifalili”. In the stream in Saarland, however, the undirected breeding choice obviously went in a different direction towards yellow!
As the only known occurrence of this color variant is extinct, it is now up to aquarists to decide whether or not the “Yellow Sunshine” will be preserved in the hobby. In the photo tank, the pair proved quite willing to contribute to the preservation of the species and soon spawned a large clutch of eggs.
For our customers: Rubricatochromis guttatus “Yellow Sunshine” has code 537552 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply the wholesale trade.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
