# What kind of fish were these? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 28, 2010, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-fish-were-these/541021 "2010-05-28T02:09:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-fish-were-these/541021/1 "2010-05-28T02:09:29Z")
I saw a tank full of colorful fish, and now I’m going crazy trying to figure out what they were. They were so different, but they were all the same fish. They were blue, orange, yellow, and white. They ranged in size from about the size of my thumb to the size of my index finger. They all had faint strips, metallic flecks on their anal fins, long low dorsal fins, and big round eyes. I think they had metallic flecks on their gill-flaps, too. The blue ones especially had shimmering scales between their eyes. Ringing any bells? ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-fish-were-these/541021/2 "2010-05-28T07:21:07Z")
Maybe [mandarin fish](http://www.google.ca/images?hl=en&safe=off&resnum=0&q=mandarin%20fish&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi)? ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-fish-were-these/541021/3 "2010-05-28T09:03:23Z")
ooo they are beautiful! and look at the mantis shrimp and her eggs, I can imagine her glaring at the photographer 😃 > **[Got The Shot: Lembeh Strait - Julian Cohen - Dive Happy](https://divehappy.com/indonesia/got-the-shot-lembeh-strait-julian-cohen/)** > > Julian Cohen was the recent winner of FINS Magazine and ScubaCam's Photo Shootout in Lembeh Strait, Indonesia. Here he describes how he got the shot for ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-fish-were-these/541021/4 "2010-05-28T11:17:06Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > I saw a tank full of colorful fish, and now I’m going crazy trying to figure out what they were. They were so different, but they were all the same fish. > > They were blue, orange, yellow, and white. They ranged in size from about the size of my thumb to the size of my index finger. They all had faint strips, metallic flecks on their anal fins, long low dorsal fins, and big round eyes. I think they had metallic flecks on their gill-flaps, too. The blue ones especially had shimmering scales between their eyes. > > Ringing any bells? African Cichlids. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-fish-were-these/541021/5 "2010-05-28T11:31:29Z")
Oh, I kept Africans for a while there, late '80s -early "90s. Very personable fishies. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-fish-were-these/541021/6 "2010-05-28T12:59:32Z")
Could they have been one of the [dyed species](http://www.fishlore.com/aquariummagazine/may08/dyedfish.htm)? ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-fish-were-these/541021/7 "2010-05-28T13:10:10Z")
My first thought was gouramis. They are a commonly kept fresh water fish that come in a wide variety of colors. I used to have several varieties of them. [http://www.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&channel=s&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=gourami&aq=f&aqi=g3g-m7&aql=&oq=&gs\_rfai=](http://www.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&channel=s&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=gourami&aq=f&aqi=g3g-m7&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=) ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-fish-were-these/541021/8 "2010-05-28T13:26:11Z")
And the winner is… the cichlids. (How do you pronounce that, anyway?) Googling “African cichlid” brings up a wide variety of fish, but the ones I saw were [these](http://sites.google.com/site/0somethingfishy0/_/rsrc/1214233136060/african-cichlids/P1010535.JPG?height=315&width=420) types. Once again, the Dope comes through. Thanks for your help. ---
**Author:** ![Ionizer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5daacb/32.png) [@Ionizer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ionizer)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-fish-were-these/541021/9 "2010-05-28T14:07:18Z")
sick-lid is how I learned it was pronounced. The fish shown look to have the juvenile coloration(s). They are usually quite different when fully ‘adult’. IIRC, that bluish one gets a big ol’ bump on its forehead eventually. Or its one very similar in appearance anyways. I kept numerous cichlid species years ago; pretty neat (and aggressive!) fish in those rift lakes. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-fish-were-these/541021/10 "2010-05-28T14:49:19Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > ooo they are beautiful! > > and look at the mantis shrimp and her eggs, I can imagine her glaring at the photographer 😃 > > [Got The Shot: Lembeh Strait - Julian Cohen](http://divehappy.com/indonesia/got-the-shot-lembeh-strait-julian-cohen/) I can imagine her coming up to the camera and breaking the lens with her supersonic claw swing. Those are some mean mofos…