# Identify this Fish?



## auratusguy (Apr 7, 2013)

Hey everyone.

I bought two yellow Kenyi cichlids from the lfs that appeared to be male, because they were both yellow.
You can see the image of one of the fish below. However, this fish shown is quite obviously the mother of these young fish. I saw her mouthbrooding them.
The young ones do seem like Kenyi's to me. The mother is most certainly not blue however. You might not be able to see but she does have the triangle-shaped bars
The male is more yellow, looks a lot like a kenyi, and is mostly likely her mate
Any ideas? not a Kenyi?










*EDIT

Another question, They mated once before, but only 1 little guy survived and I wasn't sure where he came from. 
He's currently hiding under a rock all by himself on the opposite side of the tank. He's just a little bigger than these ones. 
Should I scoop him up and put him with the others?


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## BC in SK (Aug 11, 2012)

Not that unusual for female kenyi to take on male coloration, or close to male coloration.


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## auratusguy (Apr 7, 2013)

I thought it was the other way around, males can take female coloration


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## noki (Jun 13, 2003)

Female Kenyi can look yellowish, usually duller than a male in good color. Kind of unusual for a female to look like that all of the time. Female Auratus and Johanni can do the same thing, look like a dull male. It is thought it is to avoid attention from males, or maybe it is a dominance thing.

That is a nice pic of the babies.


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## nmcichlid-aholic (Mar 23, 2011)

Yep, Female Kenyi Will Often Take On Male Coloration, But There Are Usually Still Hints That It's Female. As In Your Photo Above, You Can Still See Some Hints Of Blue On The Cheeks, Jaw, And Body. The Blue Pretty Much Disappears Completely When A Male Turns Yellow. I Would Say If Your Other Little One Is Within 1/4" Of These, It Should Be Ok To Keep Them Together.


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## 24Tropheus (Jun 21, 2006)

Yep very nice normal female _Metriaclima lombardoi_ with fry.
Colouration to do with dominance and age as well as sex.
Only young are realy blue. Males tend to go more yellow and earlier than females.
Kind of wish the species profile and article said this. :wink: 
Only real accurate way of sexing em is venting.

All the best James


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## 24Tropheus (Jun 21, 2006)

Correction species article does mention holding females can go yellow. But sadly fails to mention older/big females may hold that colouration between broods. Pitty, guess the writer never saw this quite common thing.

All the best James


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## auratusguy (Apr 7, 2013)

She has always been kind of off-color so I think she must just be a female who is taking on yellow colour. I wonder if she will ever go back to blue?
I must have missed where it said that females can go yellow as well. 
Thanks for the help to all who responded.


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