Mbuna ID needed

Hi guys, I got a few mbunas from someone, but I am not sure on what types they are and whether they are males or females. Your help would be appreciated..

 

Someone has to know?

 

wait for the mbuna experts i have never kept that kind of fish before nemo

 

Pic 1 & 2- Red Zebra- Maylandia estherae
Pic 3- Looks like Pseudotropheus demasoni but many of these cichlids in pet shops are hybrids with similar species so I'm not entirely sure.
Pic 4, 5 & 6- Metriclima callainos Blue Cobolt Zebra.

I am not that familiar with Mbuna so let's see if anyone else agrees with me

 

Thanks for confirming what I suspected @EnvironmentalBro. I previously had the fish in pics 1+2 identified as labodochromis ceraleus here.
@<<Nemo>>, judging by the number of views this thread has had, I don't think that people are ignoring you. It's just that Malawi cichlids are so difficult to id. Unless you've kept the fish in question yourself, it's unlikely that you'll recognize the various changes they go through as they mature. To make it even more difficult, the same fish can look dramatically different under different lighting and stress or environmental/health conditions.

 

Thanks @EnvironmentalBro, I assume you meant pic 6 is the 'demasoni', thats the order it displays in by me.. I don't think that is a demasoni though.
Pic 3 is a very dark fish, almost black in the tank with dark vertical stripes on the body, so I don't think he is a blue cobalt zebra.
Pic 4 is a greyish fish and pic 5 I agree with you that that is a blue cobalt zebra, is pic 4 then a female or something else?
Which of these fish are males and which are females?

 

Nope, the way I wrote it is the way I see it. Please edit your post and label each photo with a number so that we can clearly ID each photo Most Mbuna are not sexually dimorphic so differentiating between males and females is difficult without observing breeding behaviour.

 

That's fine, I understand the order then.. That dark fish is dominant in the tank now so he is a definitely a male. I can't find where to edit the post. @EnvironmentalBro

 

Does it give you this option?

 

For all my other posts except the first one yes :/ @EnvironmentalBro

 

One of your fish actually looks more like Pseudotropheus elongatus not P. demasoni but like I said these guys are often a hybrids.

 

Haha well... repost then?

 

Pic 1 - yellow lab, looks like hybrid
Pic 2 - might be Pseudotropheus socolofi*(Albino), but again not pure.
Pic 3 - Metriaclima*sp. "elongatus usisya", I have one so can confirm.
Pic 4 - ?? Not sure
Pic 5 - Cobolt Zebra
Pic 6 - Metriaclima lombardoi , aka Kenyi , high aggressive when mature.

 

Thank you @Chongkie, I have 8 yellow labs so they are definitely not yellow labs. Pic 1 and 2 looks more like the Metriaclima estherae that @EnvironmentalBro mentioned, the two look the same, one is just more yellow and the other one more pink, but most estherae pics I see on google shows a bright orange fish. I agree with the rest of the names you sent, so thank you very much for that!

 

If u look at the face of pic 1, more resemblance to yellow lab. A sharper face and body shape similar.
Pic 2, face is quite blunt and body elongated much more similar to socolofi. But could be estherae, hard to tell.

 

@Chongkie, these fish are about 11cm in size, pic 1 and 2 are the same fish, they just differ in color. I have 8 yellow labs, males and females in my tank, those are not yellow labs.

 

Ok had a closer look and you are right. M.Estherae has similar shape and face. Colour just doesn't match. But seen some pics that also has the non red / shimmery colour. Are they hybrids?

The grey one in Pic 4 could be a juvenile greshaki. Just a guess bc it is hard to tell with greshaki, even when mature. If not dominant then no colour.

 

I got them from someone so I have no idea of the origin, the people bought the tank but didn't want the fish, so I got them and they just knew that they are malawis. Greshaki is a good guess I rate, will see if he changes color at some stage as the usisya is domanint. Yes, the only problem with those 'estherae' is that their color don't actually match the estherae color, but yes, there are some pics that show this color as you also said.