Help with fish indentification

[Blue Guppy]

I need some help to identify the fish posted below. It all started when I bought juveniles of these malawi cichlids. I made sure that I bought them in 4 pairs of each. Blue, auratus and the yellow. But when they grew up this fish I could not identify.

Thanks in advance for any help. Also need to know the gender too!


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[Jacko]

Not much with african cichlids, but to me it looks like a female pseudotropheus saulosi.

[hari-goshi]

Metriaclima lombardoi(Kenyi). The males turn a yellow/orange color when they start to reach maturity.

[kaybee]

I'm inclined to think that it is a male metriaclima lombardoi (also known as a kenyi).

How large was it when it was a juvenile and what color was it at the time of purchase? A juvenile male kenyi would have resembled the female kenyi that are in the backgrounds of some of the pics you have posted.

edit: yep, what hari-goshi said!

[Blue Guppy]

Thanks to all for all the replies. When I bought them about 4 months ago, they were all blue in color and some just changed their colors just a month ago.

[Blue Guppy]

When I first got them, they were about more or less 2 inches.

Below are photos of them taken about more than a month ago before they started to change color. You can see that their blue luster us starting to fade. The first photo and third photo is the other fish that I was not able to photo yesterday. The second photo is the fish that I was talking about. You can see that he or she is still showing blue colors but somewhat faded. What's the gender of the other fish?

Thanks again for any advices. You guys are great! thumbs2:

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[rangur1]

looks like metriclima, either lombardoi or estherae

[Dixie]

The fish in question is metriaclima lombardoi, commonly called kenyi, (male). Both male and females start out blue with black stripes but the males turn yellow.

Melanochromis auratus are the same way... both males and females look alike when young then the male changes color (will start looking like a rotting banana then turn alot blacker).

Neither of these fish are pairing fish but harem breeders...meaning there should be at least 3-4 females per male of a species.

Both the auratus and kenyi are very aggressive (mean) fish when comming into breeding age and at least a 75g. tank is recommended for them with plenty of females. I wouldn't keep 2 males of either species in the same tank unless it was larger than a 75g.

What size is you tank? What is your stock list (species of fish and how many of each)?

Appears you have kenyi, auratus, and red zebras?

[Mith]

Hey, those blue ones look like the fish I have... wonder if mine are the same AND I wonder if they're going to turn yellow???

[Lab_Rat]

I agree with male Pseudotropheus lombardoi. If they are turning yellow then it is male. The females will stay blue.

[krisisdog]

Yeh Lombardoi's.