Peacock Fish: Peacock Cichlid Types, OB Peacocks and Care

A peacock fish is almost always a peacock cichlid, one of the 19 species in the genus Aulonocara that live only in Lake Malawi in East Africa (Wikipedia). Fishkeepers shorten the name to "peacocks". The males are the reason people buy them: Wikipedia describes the genus as strongly sexually dichromic, meaning the males carry electric blues, yellows and reds while the females stay drab. AquariumSource describes females as dull grey and smaller, maxing out around 4 inches against about 6 inches for males.

All peacock cichlids are maternal mouthbrooders: the female carries the eggs and young in her mouth (Wikipedia). Species you may see named on a label, with their common names from Wikipedia:

• Aulonocara jacobfreibergi, Freiberg's peacock or fairy cichlid
• Aulonocara stuartgranti, flavescent peacock
• Aulonocara baenschi, nkhomo-benga peacock
• Aulonocara nyassae, emperor cichlid

Most fish in shops are sold under colour-line names such as dragon blood, albino, OB or sunshine rather than a species name. Those are bred forms, so a photo can usually tell you "peacock cichlid" with confidence but not always the exact species.

Yes, there is more than one fish called peacock, which is why a search for "peacock fish" mixes aquarium shops and fishing pages. The ones you are most likely to mean:

• Peacock cichlid (Aulonocara): the Lake Malawi aquarium fish on this page
• Peacock bass (Cichla): a much bigger South American cichlid caught as a sport fish; Wikipedia says peacock bass bring Florida more than US$8 million a year in sportfishing revenue. See our peacock bass page
• Peacock gudgeon (Tateurndina ocellicauda): a small goby-like fish from eastern Papua New Guinea, up to 7.5 cm (3 in), described by Wikipedia as a peaceful community fish for tanks of 15 gallons or more
• Peacock flounder (Bothus mancus): an Indo-Pacific flatfish up to about 45 cm (18 in) covered in blue flower-like spots; Wikipedia reports it can change its pattern to match the bottom in as little as eight seconds

If you are not sure which one you have, the body shape settles it: a flat fish lying on the bottom is a flounder, a large predator caught on rod and line is a peacock bass, and a deep-bodied blue or yellow fish in a rocky African cichlid tank is a peacock cichlid.

Peacock cichlids hunt by feel as much as by sight. A study in the Journal of Experimental Biology describes Aulonocara stuartgranti swimming millimetres above sandy sediment in Lake Malawi and striking at invertebrates buried in it. The fish has widened lateral line canals with large pores on the head, the pressure-sensing system fish use to feel water movement.

The researchers measured how far away the fish noticed prey: about 7 to 8 cm in light trials versus about 4 cm in dark trials, roughly half as far, matching the paper's finding that detection distance in light was about twice that in the dark. When the lateral line was temporarily switched off with cobalt chloride, the fish stopped striking prey in the dark altogether, although it still swam over it, and it still fed in the light. The fish also went for live brine shrimp before dead ones.

That is the practical reason peacock keepers use sand. Ron's Cichlids recommends a sand substrate with open swimming space and rockwork for cover, and a fish that sifts and strikes into the bottom does better on soft sand than on sharp gravel. It is also the dotted row of pores along the lower head that you can see in a close-up photo of a peacock.

OB stands for orange blotch. It is the blotched pattern of orange, black and blue patches that occurs naturally in several Lake Malawi mbuna, the rock-dwelling cichlids. Live Fish Direct explains that the pattern reached peacock lines through hybridisation in aquariums followed by selection, so the OB peacock is not a wild species. No two finished fish look the same, and the sex of a juvenile cannot be told from its pattern alone.

This matters in three practical ways:

• Breeding: an OB peacock is a hybrid. If you breed pure species, keep OB fish separate and label any fry as hybrids.
• Identification: an app or a book will not find "OB peacock" among wild Aulonocara, because it is not one. Expect an answer of peacock cichlid or hybrid.
• Buying: you are paying for the individual pattern. On 25 September 2026 Snake River Cichlids listed OB lines such as Albino OB and Platinum OB from $11.99 and Dragonblood OB from $13.99, while Ron's Cichlids listed Assorted OB Peacocks at $75 and OB Lwanda at $125, most likely reflecting fish size and selection.

Yes, but only in an African cichlid community, not a typical tetra-and-guppy tank. Wikipedia says all peacock cichlids are less aggressive than mbuna and should be kept with other medium-sized, non-aggressive Lake Malawi cichlids in warm water with a slightly basic pH.

What the sources agree on:

• Good companions: non-aggressive haps such as redfin haps, and Botia loaches (AquariumSource); Snake River Cichlids also says haps work when stocked properly
• Avoid: mbuna. Snake River Cichlids does not recommend peacocks in mbuna tanks, because mbuna are more aggressive
• Group make-up: keep more females than males to spread out male aggression, or only one male if you want to breed (AquariumSource)
• Space: at least 55 to 60 gallons, and 100 gallons or more for a large community (AquariumSource); Ron's Cichlids also says 55 gallons or larger with hard, alkaline water

Peacocks live about six to eight years with good care (AquariumSource). For the wider group they belong to, see our African cichlids page.

It depends which "peacock" you mean. Peacock cichlids are small aquarium fish, and none of the sources we checked describe them as food. The fish people catch and cook is the peacock bass, a sport fish in Florida and South America; our peacock bass page covers where it lives and how anglers target it. Before keeping any wild fish to eat, check the current fishing regulations and any fish-consumption advisory for that water.

Prices from three US cichlid sellers on one day:

• Snake River Cichlids: most peacocks from $9.99, including Apache, Dragonblood, Ngara Flametail and Rubescens; Albino Super Red and Blue Neon from $10.99
• Live Fish Direct: Lemon Jake from $9, German Red $9 to $25, Ngara Flametail $9 to $30, Blue Orchid (Kandee) $18 to $75, priced by size and stage; $55 flat-rate overnight shipping
• Ron's Cichlids: Ngara Flametail $68, Lwanda Throwoff $64, Aulonocara Koningsi Mbenji $88, assorted hybrid males $19, peacock and hap variety packs $299

The same variety can cost $10 as a juvenile and $60 or more as a coloured-up adult male, and shipping can add more than the fish. A juvenile is cheaper but you may not know its sex yet; a coloured male shows you exactly what you are paying for.

FishLens identifies fish from a photo. For a peacock cichlid, photograph an adult male side-on in good light with the fins spread; the blue head, the row of lateral line pores under the eye and the overall body shape are what separate a peacock from a mbuna or a hap. Females and juveniles are grey and much harder to tell apart, so treat any species-level answer for them as a starting point and confirm with the seller's labelling. If you want to check a mixed tank, our guide to identifying fish from a photo explains how to get a usable picture through aquarium glass.

Research and drafting for this page were assisted by AI and checked line by line against the sources listed below. Every number names the organisation it comes from, and where sources disagree we say so instead of picking one silently. Prices are shop listings we checked on 25 September 2026; they change, so confirm before you rely on them. If you find an error, tell us and we will correct it.