Some Interesting Facts About The Origins Of The Zhen Zhou/Pearly Flowerhorn

Zhen zhou flowerhorn or pearl flowerhorn is one of the main breed of flowerhorn.  They originated from the  original  luohans and through several crosses and line breeding were able to produce the pearly fish that it is today.

Whatever the strain of zz  it is generally believed that zz's have Amphilopus trimaculatus as a main ancestor.
Trimaculatus also known as the "rainbow cichlid"  is responsible for giving the zz's its flowerline, the body shape, the lip shape, and of course the fin shape. Trimaculatus was then cross bred with other central american cichlid  in order to produce the pearly zz's we have today.

As you can see below the picture of a trimaculatus and  some zz's.

Trimaculatus by Brent Smith

Some zhen zhous especially the low grade ones are more tri-mac in appearance. Of the classic zhen zhous it is Eastern maiden strain that closely resembles a trimaculatus.

The downside to having a trimaculatus as an ancestor is that the trait of having a weak tail and having  a small kok is passed down to the next generations.

The Trimacs were bred to Amphipolus citrenelum which gave the zhen zhus their koks and added to the zhen zhus color variety and the trailing fins. Some facial features of the midas cichlid were inherited as well.

Amphilophus citrenelus "Midas cichlid"

modern day zhen zhu

Amphilopus citrenellus by Bret Smith

The downside to having the midas cichlid as ancestor is that the fierce nature and territoriality of the midas cichlid is passed to the next generations and becomes genetically fixed. Male zhen zhu with bigger humps tend to be more aggressive than males with no humps. These males are known to kill their females and other fish,a characteristic which is observed with the midas cichlid.