Sciaenochromis fryeri
"White Knight"
by Todd Raysby 10/11/2013
"White Knight"
by Todd Raysby 10/11/2013
Let me begin by telling you that I did a little bit of internet research in an attempt to find the origin of this beautiful aquarium fish and I came up a bit short. I found several forum discussions that tossed about hearsay about the origins of Sciaenochromis fryeri "White Knight" (often referred to erroneously as White Knight ahli). There are quite a few people who believe this fish is a hybrid. There are others who suggest it is a naturally occurring species in Lake Malawi. If I were to take a guess, I would say it is likely a line bred form of Sciaenochromis fryeri. For the beginners out there, that simply means that the fish was likely produced by breeding S. fryeri in a continuous family line without mixing other blood lines (out-crossing) and selecting for specific traits. In this case they were likely selecting the individuals they used for breeding based on color, or lack thereof. Ultimately, due to the inbreeding of the fish and the selective process, recessive traits such as albinism (White Knights are not an albino form by-the-way) or leucism begin to show up in the offspring. These traits result in fish that would likely not survive in the wild, but can be cultivated in the aquarium hobby to form new variations of existing species. I believe the White Knight is a leucistic form of S. fryeri. It has black eyes, meaning it is not albino, and it maintains a blue sheen over the body, but it lacks any base body pigmentation. My specimens do show a slight red tint to their anal fins, but that is the only other color on the fish.
I obtained a small group of this species through the Breeder's Award Program of the Greater Chicago Cichlid Association. As the fish matured the males began to show the spectacular sky blue sheen that makes them so desirable and simultaneously began to bicker and fight. I kept two of the males, and sold the rest. I also kept two females, one of which died as a result of aggression-related stress. Over the course of time, my reverse trio began to spawn on a regular basis and produced a great deal of fry. Average spawns yielded about 30-40 fry. The fish spawn in typical mouth-brooder fashion, the male and female dance in a circle in the sand, laying eggs and milt. The male dashes about between frames and chases away any fish who wander too close to the pair. The video following this article shows the two males conducting a similar dance without a female.
I obtained a small group of this species through the Breeder's Award Program of the Greater Chicago Cichlid Association. As the fish matured the males began to show the spectacular sky blue sheen that makes them so desirable and simultaneously began to bicker and fight. I kept two of the males, and sold the rest. I also kept two females, one of which died as a result of aggression-related stress. Over the course of time, my reverse trio began to spawn on a regular basis and produced a great deal of fry. Average spawns yielded about 30-40 fry. The fish spawn in typical mouth-brooder fashion, the male and female dance in a circle in the sand, laying eggs and milt. The male dashes about between frames and chases away any fish who wander too close to the pair. The video following this article shows the two males conducting a similar dance without a female.
Aggression within the species exists, but is not overly intense. I was able to keep two males in a 90 gallon aquarium with other hap-types and only a single female. Even now after the female has passed on, the males maintain a relatively peaceful relationship. They occasionally tussle, resulting in frayed fins and missing scales, but neither has ever suffered severe injuries as a result of the encounters.
Allow me to take you on a brief tangent to share a word of warning. One thing I have learned over the years of keeping fish is that there is no 100% accurate profile of fish behavior. What I mean is that there will always be exceptions to the rule when it comes to fish behavior and individuality. One example of that is my now-deceased female S. fryeri "White Knight". I kept the reverse trio in a number of different tanks over the years, with a variety of tankmates. They thrived with all of the fish and never bothered anybody more than an occasional chase. I try to allow my female mouth-brooding cichlids to have a time of recuperation after they release their fry. Typically I remove them to another tank, away from the males, for about two weeks or so - just long enough to put on some weight so they can withstand the rigors of carrying another batch of fry to term. I do this because often the males will immediately attempt to spawn with a female that is reintroduced to the same tank. If the female has just finished holding to term (usually around 3 weeks) she will not be healthy enough to repeat the process, but may be bullied into it by the incessant badgering of the males. This is true for most mouth-brooding cichlids.
During one such period of recuperation, I placed the female White Knight in a 40 gallon aquarium with an adult male Altolamprologus calvus and two female OB peacocks who were also regaining their strength following childbirth. The female White Knight quickly decided it was her duty to harass the OB peacocks. I removed them to their original homes. Then, the normally docile S. fryeri female turned her attention to my beautiful White Chaitika calvus. I thought nothing of it because he was larger than her and had previously been housed with other fish that would generally be considered far more aggressive than this lady White Knight. Sad to say I learned a lesson. Despite the calvus's thick protective scales, a roomy environment, and plenty of hiding places, the fryeri female abused him to the point that he died. It was one of the most disappointing losses I've suffered as a fish keeper, not the least because I could have separated them when I first noticed the unhealthy attention. As I said, lesson learned. That female was eventually murdered as well, while brooding eggs. I found her with her throat ripped open. I suspect someone in the tank attacked her to get at the fry in her buccal cavity.
Forgive me if I wandered from the subject a little there. All in all, the White Knight makes a great addition to any show tank. These fish can reach as much as 8" in length within the relative safety of an aquarium, but my specimens topped out at about 5.5 -6" in length with the female actually being quite a bit smaller. She was perhaps 4.5" long. They are predatory by nature (piscivorous), but will eat any prepared foods offered. Like most of my fish, my White Knights are fed a variety of high quality flakes and pellets, both protein rich and veggie heavy formulas. I also feed occasional frozen foods like mysis, krill, brine shrimp, etc. and live foods like black-worms, mosquito larvae, and brine shrimp.
I am tempted to - and may well - attempt to breed this fish with the standard variation of S. fryeri. The logical outcome would be an initial group of fry with the standard colors who carry the genes for White Knights. I would then breed those fry to one another and, based on the outcome of the resulting fry, determine if the fish are truly the same species. If the White Knight variety are all hybrids, the crossing should result in fish that do not fully match the appearance of wild type S. fryeri. If not the second generation should result in 25% standard fry who do not carry the recessive gene, 50% standard fry who carry the gene, and 25% White Knights. I have seen fish for sale under the description White Knight split gene. I do not know the validity of the fish offered, but I think I will try to clarify some of the confusion. If I come across any enlightening information regarding this species, I will update this page accordingly.
Allow me to take you on a brief tangent to share a word of warning. One thing I have learned over the years of keeping fish is that there is no 100% accurate profile of fish behavior. What I mean is that there will always be exceptions to the rule when it comes to fish behavior and individuality. One example of that is my now-deceased female S. fryeri "White Knight". I kept the reverse trio in a number of different tanks over the years, with a variety of tankmates. They thrived with all of the fish and never bothered anybody more than an occasional chase. I try to allow my female mouth-brooding cichlids to have a time of recuperation after they release their fry. Typically I remove them to another tank, away from the males, for about two weeks or so - just long enough to put on some weight so they can withstand the rigors of carrying another batch of fry to term. I do this because often the males will immediately attempt to spawn with a female that is reintroduced to the same tank. If the female has just finished holding to term (usually around 3 weeks) she will not be healthy enough to repeat the process, but may be bullied into it by the incessant badgering of the males. This is true for most mouth-brooding cichlids.
During one such period of recuperation, I placed the female White Knight in a 40 gallon aquarium with an adult male Altolamprologus calvus and two female OB peacocks who were also regaining their strength following childbirth. The female White Knight quickly decided it was her duty to harass the OB peacocks. I removed them to their original homes. Then, the normally docile S. fryeri female turned her attention to my beautiful White Chaitika calvus. I thought nothing of it because he was larger than her and had previously been housed with other fish that would generally be considered far more aggressive than this lady White Knight. Sad to say I learned a lesson. Despite the calvus's thick protective scales, a roomy environment, and plenty of hiding places, the fryeri female abused him to the point that he died. It was one of the most disappointing losses I've suffered as a fish keeper, not the least because I could have separated them when I first noticed the unhealthy attention. As I said, lesson learned. That female was eventually murdered as well, while brooding eggs. I found her with her throat ripped open. I suspect someone in the tank attacked her to get at the fry in her buccal cavity.
Forgive me if I wandered from the subject a little there. All in all, the White Knight makes a great addition to any show tank. These fish can reach as much as 8" in length within the relative safety of an aquarium, but my specimens topped out at about 5.5 -6" in length with the female actually being quite a bit smaller. She was perhaps 4.5" long. They are predatory by nature (piscivorous), but will eat any prepared foods offered. Like most of my fish, my White Knights are fed a variety of high quality flakes and pellets, both protein rich and veggie heavy formulas. I also feed occasional frozen foods like mysis, krill, brine shrimp, etc. and live foods like black-worms, mosquito larvae, and brine shrimp.
I am tempted to - and may well - attempt to breed this fish with the standard variation of S. fryeri. The logical outcome would be an initial group of fry with the standard colors who carry the genes for White Knights. I would then breed those fry to one another and, based on the outcome of the resulting fry, determine if the fish are truly the same species. If the White Knight variety are all hybrids, the crossing should result in fish that do not fully match the appearance of wild type S. fryeri. If not the second generation should result in 25% standard fry who do not carry the recessive gene, 50% standard fry who carry the gene, and 25% White Knights. I have seen fish for sale under the description White Knight split gene. I do not know the validity of the fish offered, but I think I will try to clarify some of the confusion. If I come across any enlightening information regarding this species, I will update this page accordingly.
