# Kenyi Cichlids - inverse male and female?



## anybody (Jan 3, 2014)

Hi,

I bought 2 kenyi cichlids a few months ago. 
One is bright blue with black stripes and the other one is bright yellow with black stripes as well. They are both approx. 3-4 inches long.
That being said, I was sure that the blue one was the female and the yellow one the male, but now they are breeding and it's the yellow one that keeps the eggs in it's mouth...

A bit confused here ! 
I'm pretty sure they are not Pseudotropheus saulosi, because of their lighter colors and both have black stripes...

Your thoughts ?
Thanks in advance.


----------



## Kanorin (Apr 8, 2008)

post some pictures!


----------



## StangG20 (Aug 12, 2013)

could be wrong but i dont think kenyi males have black stripes at that size. i know mine is almost solid yellow


----------



## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Welcome to the forum...

What other fish do you have with the Kenyi?


----------



## anybody (Jan 3, 2014)

okay, look at my profile picture. (only picture I could show you) 
Sorry, I did not want to get an account with flickr or any other image hosting sites.

So the first one (bottom) is the yellow one with the eggs in its mouth. 
the other one (top) is (I don't see any other explanation) the male.

They are the only two fish of that species in my tank. 
I have 
2 Kenyi 
2 red zebra
2 yellow fin acei
1 aulonocara stuartgranti blue neon 
and in a smaller tank I have 10 small babies yellow lab.


----------



## Floridagirl (Jan 10, 2008)

The lower fish does not look like a male Kenyi. You more than likely have a hybrid, as you don't seem to have good male to female ratios in the tank.


----------



## noki (Jun 13, 2003)

Female adult Kenyi are known to get yellowish sometimes, especially when holding.

As for the blue one, it does seem like a Kenyi but do not assume that it is a "he"... the male who bred with the female may be another species in the tank.


----------



## pfoster74 (May 13, 2012)

i have a colony of kenyi in my 125g and within the last month i saw a strong yellow kenyi holding eggs. so yes it is possible the picture in your profile is too small for me to determine if your yellow fish is a true kenyi or not


----------



## anybody (Jan 3, 2014)

any way I can post a picture directly here without going through other websites ?


----------



## AfricanLove (Jan 2, 2012)

That Kenyi may not be a Kenyi. If I remember right aren't the stripes more uniform. Those seem to uneven. Its been a while since I have kept them though


----------



## AfricanLove (Jan 2, 2012)

Floridagirl said:


> The lower fish does not look like a male Kenyi. You more than likely have a hybrid, as you don't seem to have good male to female ratios in the tank.


Sorry didn't see your post, I kind of repeated what you said but +1


----------



## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

Pic hosting instructions are at the top of this forum. Use imgur.com, no signup required.
The female is likely a Pseudotropheus crabro, aka 'bumblebee'. Try a google image search.
Did you witness them breeding? The female could have bred with any of the males in your tank or she could have simply dropped her eggs on her own and picked them up.


----------



## Floridagirl (Jan 10, 2008)

Floridagirl said:


> The lower fish does not look like a male Kenyi. You more than likely have a hybrid, as you don't seem to have good male to female ratios in the tank.


What I though I said is that the fish being held will more than likely be hybrid.


----------

