Help! We Don't Know Who We Are!

[Rick A]

Hi,

a little while before upgrading to a larger setup - 330 Liters from 180 Liters - I bought some new fish from my LFS. The guy running the LFS is fairly knowledgeable and I have been keeping Malawis for nearly four years, BUT... We have been stumped at IDing these little fellows and I was wondering if one of you could help out...

This guy is a very bright / deep yellow (unlike the poor quality camera phone pics), possibly about 3 months old and about 2" long

This one is silver with a dark lateral line, about 4 months old and 1.5" long

This one is silvery / yellow with a slightly blue face, about 3 months old and is 1.5" long - came into the LFS as a 'Taiwan Reef'...

And this one is a gorgeous albino, about 5 months old and is 2.5" long

Just that after 'trawling around the net' have been unable to find any further info on them. And before I get condemned for buying fish without proper names, not something I've done before, these guys appear to be genuine Malawis and not hybrids. Just that they were something I haven't seen before...

Thanks in advance

 

[kj23502]

1st The only yellow one I know of is a labidochromis cearuleas (sp).

2nd Kinda long looking??? A hap or something??

not completly sure on the others. I don't have time to look through my books, atm. Maybe later

 

[Soaup]

1st The only yellow one I know of is a labidochromis cearuleas (sp).

2nd Kinda long looking??? A hap or something??

not completly sure on the others. I don't have time to look through my books, atm. Maybe later

Sorry KJ i dont think the first is a lab but i dont have an alternative. I have seen them and had them several times unfortunately im drawing a black on the name. The 2nd i think might be a juvie Dimidiochromis compressiceps. Im at a loss on the others.

 

[chishnfips]

1st pic looks like a pale metriaclima estherae, not sure about the others

 

[kj23502]

hey what about an estherea/yellow lab cross?

 

[Rick A]

Thanks for the replies so far, but the first one isn't remotely like a yellow lab. I've kept them in the past and they are a lemon yellow colour. This one is a different shape and is a very bright / deep yellow. I think it COULD be a female 'metriaclima estherae' although the male is actually blue with stripes. Having said that, I have found a number of other sites that have pictures of similar looking females where the males are completely different...

The real problem I had is that my LFS guy changed supplier recently and these came in with his first batch and the order only had names for about half the fish... This is why I have been trying to sort out their names.

I think the second is probably some kind of Hap, though its hit and miss whether you come across a similar pic. It took me weeks to ID a Victoria fish I have as being 'Haplochromis sp. "Uganda Fire Red"'.

By the way KJ, your journal on setting up and sorting out your 125g Malawi tank was very helpful and informative. Even after keeping fish for quite a long time, there is always something to learn, thanks.

 

[chishnfips]

You do get male metriaclima estheraes that are blue. SO I would definately say that its an estherae .

But I cant be anymore help sorry

 

[darrel69]

Blue male M.estherea are quite rare apparantly..

Imo..
1) M.estherea.. it dont look yellow to me but a peachy orange.
2) Looks like some kind of tang or ya'know that hap with the black stripe on the eye?? forgot what its name is..
3) Some kind of peacock.
4) I would have said Pseudotropheus socolofi (Albino) but its got a pointy mouth so maybe it some kind of albino peacock ??

 

[Rick A]

A couple of better quality pis...

The albino:

The Yellow 'Metracliama' - I think. This shows the fish's true colours much better:

Do they help?

Will try to get acouple of better pics for the other two fish, when they stop darting around

 

[kj23502]

http/www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=798


This is my ultimate vote!!! I believe the yellow one is a mature Metriaclima(Pseudotropheus) lombardoi

 

[darrel69]

Is that second pic the same as the first pic in your first post ?? wow.. looks like totally different fish lol.. colourwise.

Sorry Kj, but im gunna have to disagree with ya .. im thinking along the lines of a female P.Saulosi maybe ??..

 

[kj23502]

Aw man...you may be right darell.... oh well. I tried.

 

[dthoffsett]

Blue male M.estherea are quite rare apparantly..

Just to clarify, blue male m.estherae are rarely seen in the hobby, however, in the wild, they are common and orange males are rare.

I agree with darrel, she look like a p.saulosi, and the blue striped male is a dead give-away.

 

[Rick A]

OH MY GOD! I just managed to positively ID fish number two from my original post......

Here is where I eventually found it: [URL="http/www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1064"]http/www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1064[/URL]

Just take a look at the first"subadult female" picture from the "Images" drop down... GULP! it is EXACTLY what my little fish looks like...

13.5" adult size... Although it does say its peaceful...

 

[Ace Of Spades]

IMO because of the pointeyish face of the Albino it looks like a L.Caeurlus (sp?) Albino if thats possible