If These Are Maylandia Estherae...what Is This?

[Cheffi]

Today I received 5 Maylandia Estherae. If the first photo is them

then what is this (apologies for quality still learning)?

 

[ozzy47]

Hi i would almost certainly say that is labidochromis careiulues(sorry for spelling) in other other words yellow lab but the pure yellow variety i have 5 of these at the moment and 2 of them are holding, they are not easy fish to get to hold as normally it is the labs with black fins that are commonly sold.

cheers ozzy

 

[Nick Sw]

I take it it`s meant to be an Estherae Cheffi ? Is it posssible it`s a young Male thats the Yellow Morph ?
Could be anything though try and get a better pic.

"One of the most popular Mbuna since its discovery in Lake Malawi. P. estherae is a very lively fish with great colors. Males typically are bright powder blue, females a rich orange. Although they have not been confirmed in the wild, orange males are common in the aquarium. Orange males do not share the rich orange color of the females and instead are light orange with a faint blue cast. Females can be not only orange (or commonly nicknamed "red") but also be OB (Orange Blotched)."

 

[Cheffi]

Actually the guy didn't know what they were. I posted a photo and was id'd as estherae so when I asked him he said yes they were. Link here:

Fish Id

They certainly look like the photo's I've seen although not being wild caught and tank bred would I suppose explain why the males are orange too. They have a lot more egg spots and the group have bred before.

The smaller yellowish/orangish one is the one I got from ginge that he said was estherae but which doesn't look anything like these new ones. Does that make sense?

 

[Nick Sw]

Yes it does , I`ve checked my books can`t really help maybe someone else can or maybe it`s a strange lab like Ozzy says ? Another alternative is a Hybrid or somekind ?

Try and get a better pic.

Your new ones look good Cheffi
I`m dying to get some more fish !

 

[Cheffi]

Yes it does , I`ve checked my books can`t really help maybe someone else can or maybe it`s a strange lab like Ozzy says ? Another alternative is a Hybrid or somekind ?

Try and get a better pic.

Your new ones look good Cheffi
I`m dying to get some more fish !

Nick they are great fish in lovely condition and huuuuge!!! They've added a nice bit of colour to the tank as I had too many blues and now it look really good. Here's another piccie. Must get that new camera.

 

[Cheffi]

Just felt like adding this:

 

[Ferris]

Pretty sure thats not an Estherae Cheffi, if you look closely, the mouth shape is all wrong. Estherae have distinctive big lips (for want of a better description ). I'd put my money on a yellow lab hybrid.

 

[Cheffi]

Pretty sure thats not an Estherae Cheffi, if you look closely, the mouth shape is all wrong. Estherae have distinctive big lips (for want of a better description ). I'd put my money on a yellow lab hybrid.

I have to say I agree with you ferris. It is nothing like the estherae and very much like the labs although it's all yellow. Also the only fish that take any interest in it is the female lab that chases it away from the male.

 

[adambrum]

It looks identical to a fish i asked for id on here the most common answere was a yellow lab hybrid

 

[Cheffi]

Hi i would almost certainly say that is labidochromis careiulues(sorry for spelling) in other other words yellow lab but the pure yellow variety i have 5 of these at the moment and 2 of them are holding, they are not easy fish to get to hold as normally it is the labs with black fins that are commonly sold.

cheers ozzy

The consensus of opinion is that it is a yellow lab hybrid. Are yours hybrids too?

 

[sylvia]

I thought it looked like Metriaclima barlowi but I've never seen any in-the-flesh so I could be wrong.

http/cichlidae.com/gallery/picture.php?p=1246
http/cichlidae.com/gallery/picture.php?p=1249
http/www.hojleddet.dk/images/thumbnails/...rlowi_1_200.jpg
http/www.hojleddet.dk/images/thumbnails/...i_han_1_170.jpg
http/www.hojleddet.dk/images/showimage_db.html?624
The brownish one is a female. the yellow ones are male.

edit: I'm not shure but I'd suspect that the 'yellow' yellow labs that were mentioned are simply the albino form. As they have red eyes, they are easy to destinguish.

 

[vile]

That yellow guy is a yellow lab. Recently as of 2 weeks ago Petsmart here in fayetteville Georgia claims that they are a new Zebra and they sell them as YELLOW ZEBRAS? They are yellow labs they dont have any features of a zebra so go figure thats petsmart for you!

 

[adambrum]

Sencond look im sure its the same as what i had if you look close you can see very pale blue spots on the side as for it being a barlow the fins are different the barlow has a blue tinge.

 

[Cheffi]

Sencond look im sure its the same as what i had if you look close you can see very pale blue spots on the side as for it being a barlow the fins are different the barlow has a blue tinge.

Agree I don't think it's a barlowi either.