The Red Terror in Sungei Buloh Nature Park

photos from Krish


 

At 11am on 9th June 2001, Park Ranger R. K. Ramakrishnan collected a cichlid fish from a net sampling session at the A1 pond in Sungei Buloh Nature Park. The specimen was sent to the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, where it was later determined to be Nandopsis festae by the curator of fishes, Kelvin Lim.

An internet search revealed that it is also known as Amphilophus festae, and was previously known as Cichlasoma festae or Heros festae. English names for it include the 'Red Terror' or 'Tiger Cichlid'.

The species originates form originating from the Guayas River system from Western Ecuador, Central America.

Adult size: 20'', carnivore, bottom swimmer,. Territorial and aggressive.

Nandopis festae (Boulenger 1899)

"...the Male eagerly went to investigate and as soon as She noticed the Male she instantly turned from blue to a bright red, i guess all she needed was a male interest to make her forget about her stress. The mouth locking begun instantly and the female was noticeably winning, the male gave up after only a short period of time and the female proceeded to strut her stuff, with a huge gill flare and fins extended to there full capacity, and some groovy shaking, the male started up doing a similar thing. I took this as good news and left them for about an hour, i came back and the male was hiding under a log and the female was swimming proudly round..."

'The breath taking combination of beauty and beast all rolled into one. This cichlid is from Ecuador and is among the most beautiful of freshwater fish. Growing to 16 inches, this fish is very capable of doing major damage in the aquarium. The protection of it's fry is legendary and it is one of the few cichlids where the female is actually more aggressive than the male. Keep only in huge tanks with other similar sized fish of equally nasty disposition. Males have numerous blue spots throughout the unpaired fins.'

'Was it called a red terror? This name is often given to either of two Neotropical cichlids, one from Central America Cichlasoma urophthalmus , the other from South America, Cichlasoma festae.'

'The only species of these Pacific coast cichlids found regularly in the hobby is 'C.' festae, often called the Red Terror. The common name refers to the intense red body and head color (which is striped with blue on the flanks) and to the fact that it is found alongside the well-known Green Terror, Aequidens' rivulatus (covered in Part One of this series). 'C.' festae is said by Staeck and Linke and by Konings to be a Nandopsis species, though it hardly resembles 'C.' tetracanthus. Loiselle (1985) places it in Amphilophus and I tend to agree with this placement.'

"What does everybody here think is the most overated Cichlid."

P Luvah: "Deinately the red terror at least IMO."

SS Mattimeo SS: "red devils for sure IMHO. Everyone says how mean they are, yet only a few out of the 100's ive seen are really as aggressive as people make them out to be. all the festaes i've seen were real killers."

festae: "I go with the Red Terror. They can be as nasty as the rest of the fish when they're breeding, but they are just a touch mellow when younger compared to the other fish on the list. But that is a pretty high powered list. On the other hand, a breeding pair of Red Terrors is an awesome sight, and is then one of the very elite cichlids."

...8. Amphilophus festae (Red Terror). A big and pugnacious cichlid. Beautiful colouration. Needs 150g plus tank. Females are actually more aggressive and get to 18"

 

 

 

Some internet references to this species

The Cichlid Room Companion
The Cichlid room meeting discusses "Cichlasoma" festae and "C." urophthalmus.
Chaired by Melissa Danforth, 18th October 1995.

How to differntiate between Red Terrors
'Although C. festae is most commonly sold as the red terror, the C. urophthalmus is also sold as the red terror in the US. While these fish are similar in appearance (red and black vertical stripes), they come from different areas. The festae is a South American cichlid from Ecuador. The urophthalmus is a Central American cichlid found in south Mexico and neighboring C. American countries.

Both cichlids have a black eye spot on the base of the caudal (tail) fin. With the festae, this spot is small, only taking half the height of the base. The urophthalmus spot is large, taking the entire height of the base. The red coloration is also usually less intense with the urophthalmus, but this is not always true.

http://www.rpi.net.au/~graeme/festae.html

AquariumsIte.org: Links to Red Terror

Aquaria Central

Information page for Red Terror at notcatfish.com
Adult size: 20'', carnivore, bottom swimmer, originating from Western Ecuador, Guayas River system. Territorial and aggressive.

Aquanet: Picture by Albin Kirchleitner

One fish, two fish
South American & Asian Cichlids: Nandopis festae (Boulenger 1899)

Master Index of Freshwater Fishes
by Kenneth V. Ruzek, Jr.
Lists Nandopsis festae as "Tiger Cichlid" and "Red Terror"

The Red Terrors that truly are (experiences in breeding and keeping Nandopsis festae)
By Tim Bardsley - Smith
"...the Male eagerly went to investigate and as soon as She noticed the Male she instantly turned from blue to a bright red, i guess all she needed was a male interest to make her forget about her stress. The mouth locking begun instantly and the female was noticeably winning, the male gave up after only a short period of time and the female proceeded to strut her stuff, with a huge gill flare and fins extended to there full capacity, and some groovy shaking, the male started up doing a similar thing. I took this as good news and left them for about an hour, i came back and the male was hiding under a log and the female was swimming proudly round..."

Real Cichlids Don't Eat Quiche!
by Jeff Blake
Cichlasoma festae
'The breath taking combination of beauty and beast all rolled into one. This cichlid is from Ecuador and is among the most beautiful of freshwater fish. Growing to 16 inches, this fish is very capable of doing major damage in the aquarium. The protection of it's fry is legendary and it is one of the few cichlids where the female is actually more aggressive than the male. Keep only in huge tanks with other similar sized fish of equally nasty disposition. Males have numerous blue spots throughout the unpaired fins.'

Cichlid Research Home Page: Identify your cichlid
by Ron Coleman
'Was it called a red terror? This name is often given to either of two Neotropical cichlids, one from Central America Cichlasoma urophthalmus , the other from South America, Cichlasoma festae.'

 

Cichlids of the new world
Part III -- Cichlids of North America (and Some Close Relatives)
by Dean Hougen, Aqua News, July/August 1994,
a Publication of the Minnesota Aquarium Society.

'The only species of these Pacific coast cichlids found regularly in the hobby is 'C.' festae, often called the Red Terror. The common name refers to the intense red body and head color (which is striped with blue on the flanks) and to the fact that it is found alongside the well-known Green Terror, Aequidens' rivulatus (covered in Part One of this series). 'C.' festae is said by Staeck and Linke and by Konings to be a Nandopsis species, though it hardly resembles 'C.' tetracanthus. Loiselle (1985) places it in Amphilophus and I tend to agree with this placement.'

 

Dangerous and Aggresive Fish Board
Amphilophusthe2nd posted on 3rd May 2001:
"What does everybody here think is the most overated Cichlid."

P Luvah: "Deinately the red terror at least IMO."

SS Mattimeo SS: "red devils for sure IMHO. Everyone says how mean they are, yet only a few out of the 100's ive seen are really as aggressive as people make them out to be. all the festaes i've seen were real killers."

festae: "I go with the Red Terror. They can be as nasty as the rest of the fish when they're breeding, but they are just a touch mellow when younger compared to the other fish on the list. But that is a pretty high powered list. On the other hand, a breeding pair of Red Terrors is an awesome sight, and is then one of the very elite cichlids."

 

The Cichlids Forum
Ragemaster4 posts (3 March 2001), "What are your 10 favourite cichlids (american or african) (in order), and why r they your favourites? HERE ARE MINE.
...8. Amphilophus festae (Red Terror). A big and pugnacious cichlid. Beautiful colouration. Needs 150g plus tank. Females are actually more aggressive and get to 18"..."