Common Jewel Cichlid

About

This is, in all probability, the fish you have already met. FishBase's taxonomic remark on the species says it outright: 'According to Loiselle (1979) this species would be the true "jewel cichlid" of aquariologists, also used as an experimental animal by physiologists and ethologists and commonly named H. bimaculatus.' Our jewel-cichlid entry is Hemichromis bimaculatus, and that is a real species — Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, with 'three black blotches on sides, the first on opercle, the second at midpoint of body, the third on caudal-fin base' in FishBase's diagnosis — but the red jewel sitting in most shop tanks under that label is this one. H. guttatus runs the coastal rivers from Sierra Leone to Cameroon, the Lower Volta basin excepted, and, unusually for a jewel, it 'even maintains breeding populations in coastal lagoons', which is why this entry is marked brackish-tolerant and the Congo species is not. It was also released around 1970 into a hot-spring-fed stream at Villach in Austria. Telling the three apart is a matter of spots, and the spots are less decisive than the map. Seriously Fish has no page for guttatus at all, but its Hemichromis lifalili profile separates the two red jewels: 'In lifalli the marking is round and is situated above the lateral line. In guttatus the marking is oval in shape and some of it extends below the lateral line' — their spelling of lifalili, not ours. FishBase's guttatus diagnosis adds that the operculum carries a large black spot, that the midlateral oval one is 'sometimes absent', that the caudal-peduncle spot is 'normally present, small and ovoid', and that the fish is 'never with multiple series of distinct blotches or bars on flanks' — that last clause is what separates any red jewel from the five-spotted Hemichromis. Two honest caveats. FishBase itself carries the same 'true jewel fish of aquarists' sentence, from the same 1970s reference, on both its guttatus page and its bimaculatus page, and its bimaculatus page adds that 'Species boundaries in the genus Hemichromis remain unclear'. The catalogue has recorded the trade's confusion rather than resolved it. And the genus is mid-move: Lamboj and Koblmüller published a revision in Hydrobiologia in 2022 (volume 850, pages 2177-2198) that split it in two, leaving four five-spotted species in Hemichromis and putting nine described red jewels plus at least four undescribed ones into a new genus, Rubricatochromis, whose type species is guttatus itself. We could not read that paper — it is behind Springer's paywall — so its content here is reported from Aquarium Glaser's summary and from FishBase, which has adopted the new names. The move is real but not yet universal: FishBase and Maidenhead Aquatics now head this fish Rubricatochromis guttatus, while GBIF's backbone still lists Hemichromis guttatus as accepted and Wikipedia's species list is still under Hemichromis. We keep the older combination in the header, as our jewel-cichlid entry does, and both names are searchable. Last, what you are actually buying. Aquarium Glaser explains the colour: the blue spangles are iridophores, and 'The distribution of the iriodophores is individually different. In the wild, specimens completely without and those completely covered with iriodophores are found in the same population of several species. This is therefore not a species characteristic, but can be selected by appropriate breeding.' Decades of that selection have produced strains 'much, much more colorful than their wild cousins', and the heaviest-spangled of them are sold as lifalili. Maidenhead reports the same thing from the retail end and adds a newer problem: 'Recently a short-bodied/balloon form has appeared.' Buy a normal body.

Care

Highly territorial, and the tank is most of the answer. Maidenhead Aquatics asks for 'ideally minimum 4ft long'; Fishipedia puts the minimum at 200 litres; we gate at 120 cm and 180 L. Our jewel-cichlid entry now sits on the same gate, because the two are one fish in most shop tanks and Seriously Fish's own page for the trade's 'H. bimaculatus' also gives a 48-inch base. Sand, and sight lines broken by pebbles, slate, flowerpots on their sides and tangles of driftwood. Plants are welcome but not in the substrate: 'as this species likes to dig, it is best to stick to robust species that can be tied on and trained to grow on the decor, such as Anubias spp. and Java Fern (Microsorum spp.) plus floating varieties.' Do not buy a ready-made pair. Buy six or more youngsters, let a pair form and rehome the rest, because a shop-picked male and female usually ends with the weaker one dead. Tankmates, if any, are the larger African tetras — Alestes, Arnoldichthys, Bathyaethiops, Phenacogrammus — or Synodontis catfish, and expect to move them out the week the pair spawns. 24-28 °C, pH 6.5-7.5, up to 18 dH, efficient filtration with gentle flow, frequent partial water changes. Aquarium Glaser's warning about temper is worth repeating in full, because it is the reason this fish divides people: most are sociable enough, 'but there are some unbearable troublemakers, which make life hell for all fish in the aquarium. Since this characteristic occurs individually, it is absolutely unpredictable.'

Diet

Omnivore on FishBase, and it eats what it can catch. Flake and green flake, cichlid pellets, and small frozen foods — white mosquito larvae, bloodworm, spirulina-enriched brineshrimp, Mysis. Live food deepens the red; anything small enough to swallow is also food.

Telling males from females

What works for this species, most reliable first.

• Extended finsStrong · from about 8 months, and later in a suppressed male

  On many cichlids and killifish the male's dorsal and anal fins draw out into trailing points as he matures, while the female's stay rounded.

• VentingA hint only · only on a mature fish, easiest when she is in breeding condition

  The method breeders use when the answer has to be right. Hold the fish upside down in a wet hand or soft net and look at the two openings ahead of the anal fin. The forward one is the anus; the one behind it is what you are reading.

• Adult sizeA hint only · only across animals of the same age

  In many cichlids, catfish and loaches one sex simply grows larger — usually the male, though there are well-known reversals.

Similar species

Same category and the closest water parameters — if this species isn't quite it, start here.

Sold in Lithuania

These Lithuanian shops listed this species in their public catalogue (checked August 8, 2026). Stock moves — ask before you travel.

These links are unpaid: we get nothing for them and ask for nothing.

Frequently asked questions

What tank size does a Common Jewel Cichlid need?

A Common Jewel Cichlid needs an aquarium of at least 180 litres (47.6 US gallons) with a footprint at least 120 cm (47.2 in) long — for this species, swimming length matters as much as raw volume.

What water parameters does a Common Jewel Cichlid need?

Common Jewel Cichlid does best at 22–28 °C (71.6–82.4 °F), pH 6–7.8 and a general hardness of 4–18 °dGH.

Is the Common Jewel Cichlid suitable for beginners?

Common Jewel Cichlid sits in the middle of the difficulty scale — manageable for a careful beginner who has done the reading, but it has specific needs worth researching first.

Sources

• FishBase — Rubricatochromis guttatus (Günther, 1862), filed as Hemichromis guttatus
• Fishkeeper.co.uk (Maidenhead Aquatics) — Jewel Cichlid, Rubricatochromis guttatus
• Seriously Fish — Hemichromis lifalili (the profile that separates the two red jewels)
• Seriously Fish — Hemichromis bimaculatus (Jewel Cichlid), the same fish under the trade's older name
• Aquarium Glaser — Rubricatochromis: a new genus name for the red jewel cichlids (23 December 2022)
• Aquarium Glaser — Rubricatochromis "lifalili" (formerly: Hemichromis), 26 April 2023
• GBIF — Hemichromis guttatus Günther, 1862 (backbone still accepts the older combination)
• Wikipedia — Jewel cichlid (genus Hemichromis)
• Fishipedia — Rubricatochromis guttatus