Nanochromis dimidiatus "Leza"
There is some confusion in the aquarium hobby as to exactly what the true Nanochromis dimidiatus is. Most likely, the fish once exported in the '50's by Pierre Brichard is not the "true" dimidiatus. (neither is the dimidiatus in the English version of L+S's West African cichlid book - the Kapou form is listed as N. dimidiatus in the second revision of the German language version - 2002) Quite possibly, the "true" dimidiatus is a fairly wide ranging species found in the DR Congo/CAR - forms like "Zaire Red," "Kapou," "sp. Bandundu" and "Leza" are seen in the hobby. Whether or not these form constitute a single species is a question similar to the ones being asked about Apistogramma... and currently unanswered.
The "Leza" form is also sometimes known as the "Lesias" form. It is important to note that these are the same fish, and further, that "Leza" does not designate that this fish is found near the city of Leza in the extreme south of the DR Congo, near Zambia. According to Roland Numrich, the name referrs to the Congolese collector who first collected the fish and sent them to an exporter in Kinshasa. His name, Leza, was used to differentiate these fish from the other Nanochromis sent in the same shipments. This population of N.dimidiatus is usually collected in the Lukeni River near Nioki.
Some males exhibit a red dorsal fin..
The fish below were bred in Europe.
Special thanks to Anton Lamboj for contributing this photo.