Hawaiibassfishing Forum

What a stellar day it was today in the isles! Great views, crystal clear waters and luscious foliage span across the shoreline as far as the eye can see, as fish of all colors and sizes imaginable agilely dart under the reflection of the radiating Hawaiian sun. You know it's time for some fishing and some fun! Almost all of today's catch were red in color, which was rather exciting considering in the Chinese culture, the color red symbolizes hap, happiness and good stuff in general, not unlike the traditions of using red in festivals.

Today we caught 2 species of red colored Cichlids in Lake Wilson, that is the Midas Cichlid (Cichlasoma citrinellus) and the Red Devil (Cichlasoma labiatum). Does it make a difference? Nah, not really, just thought I'd let you know, easier to call all of them "Red Devils" I guess.

Great report.... since the water level is down it's much easier to access the lake. Glad to see you're taking advantage of the fishing.
Looks like the kids (of all ages) were having fun.

Just curious...how did you tell the difference between a Midas and a Red Devil? What were the characteristics you looked for?

I did a little search and only came up with this one characteristics...the upper jaw is shaped like a Gothic arch (pointed) in the Red Devil (A. labiatus) while the upper jaw is shaped like a Roman arch (rounded) in the Midas (A. citrinellus).

http://www.cichlidae.com/article.php?id=106

Is that how you tell them apart?

I bothers me now since I didn't know that before and I couldn't tell from the pictures of the fish I caught whether they were Red Devil or Midas...I could very well have caught both species but didn't know it...

I guess I'll have to wait until my next visit to catch a real Red Devil and a real Midas with positive ID.