Is this really an Acara???

[Magnum Man]

Common name Yellow Acara.. but it’s really…
Aequidens metae

 

[GaryE]

I have seen a lot of metae, but I've never seen one even remotely that colourful.

 

[Magnum Man]

It’s a centerfold picture… breeding male

Non breeding colors

BTW… I have one of these coming, as only one was available… now to decide if I put it in the already pretty crowded Cichid tank, or if it will behave in the less crowded tetra tank???

 

[GaryE]

It may be one local morph I have never seen, but that fish used to come in a lot, and I saw brown where he's yellow.

 

[CassCats]

Sharp looking fish

 

[Magnum Man]

The reason I question…
There are a lot of varieties of Acara, that have “acara” as part of their scientific name, but the more I dug, I started seeing many that I’ve never seen, and that don’t have Acara as part of their scientific names, like the one listed in the OP… in my digging, I found this one particularly interesting…

Laetacara dorsigera​

It was listed in this article….

Five Less Common Acaras Everyone Should Keep

Acaras are a species of fish I would feel safe saying none of us are strangers to. I think it would be impossible to find someone who's never heard of an electric blue acara, threadfin acara, green terror, you know, every Petco and Petsmart special. Sadly, I think many folks miss out on the joy...

www.steenfottaquatics.com

 

[Gamegurl564]

Gorgeous fish.
If only I had my own fish store I could keep all the fish I want.

 

[GaryE]

"Acara" is a local langage name for Cichlids like that. My favourite namewise is Laetacara dorsigera, known locally as the "Acara bobo" because it's so easy to catch.

 

[fishorama]

Dorsigera are a fish I wanted to keep...when I have the right tank for them. So pretty, as are all laetacara I've seen.

There are several nice Aequidens species now. We had A. pulcher back in the day. Just your basic blue acara but they were great! Pretty acara sums them up, beautiful fish!

Other than color, your fish looks exactly how I think of acara.