# is this a cobalt blue zebra



## baza

hi

This fish was labelled cobalt blue zebra in fish shop. I got two of them one is much larger than the other. They both started off dark. The big one is now a lighter silver/blue whilst the small one is still dark almost black. Sometimes the larger one displays a nice aqua blue colour?

thanks


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## baza

sorry i tried to put pics on here it didnt work


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## noki

"Cobalt Zebra" Metriaclima callainos is always blue. Juveniles and females can kinda be darker blue sometimes and males can really fire up their color when excited so they are bright light blue. They are kinda monomorphic but males can get bright light blue. Dominant males should have no trace of any barring whatsoever, they are solid blue.

Not sure what you mean by blackish. M. estherae males (natural blue ones) can get from dark greyish-blue to almost white blue, they are more dimorphic. They can have a lot of eggspots (more than average Mbuna), sometimes including eggspots at the end of the dorsal fin.


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## baza

hi noki

I have pictures of these fish but unfortunately Iam technically useless with computers i have no idea how to put them on here.

Sorry i meant that my smaller fish that was labelled cobalt blue zebra is still a dark blue almost black colour. My larger cobalt zebra is far from being the dominant male in the tank he is actually near the bottom ranking in the tank. The larger fish approx 2-3inches shows light blue colour barring. Occasionally he changes colour on his dorsal fin to a nice aqua blue colour.

thanks


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## granthoy

google "kenyi" - we bought 2 cobalt blue zebras at the LFS and this is what they ended up being.


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## cichlidaholic

If they show barring or are dark (almost black) in colouration, they aren't Cobalts.

Here is an adult male:










They look like this from the time they are a month old. :thumb:

If you wish to post pics to determine what you do have, upload your pics to a host such as Photobucket, then simply copy and paste the image tag into your post on here.


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## etcbrown

Sorry but I really must disagree that Metriaclima callainos do not show any barring. Although a dominant male typically does not, it is absolutely untrue that callainos do not ever show barring. I will concede that the barring is never very defined and is not normally permanent but rather a startled or stressed condition. They also do not have to be a cobalt blue color they range all the way from nearly pure white to yellowish to the more common cobalt blue and even OB morphs.


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## baza

hi

yer it leaves me very confused i got them from lfs who got them from a local breeder so i dunno. They definentily dont stand out like kims pic the barring is only very faint. I wish they looked like the fish in that pic.

Unfortunately i dont know how to upload pics on a photobucket or what an image tag is. But im pretty sure i may have hybrids.

thanks


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## Joea

To post a photo...

1. Sign up for a free account with

www.photobucket.com

2. Upload the pictures from your PC to that online site. Pictures will be stored on their server and then accessible anywhere on the WWW.

3. After the upload is complete, simply click on the box labeled "IMG Code" under the photo you want to show. It will automatically copy the URL. Then just paste it in the reply box (CTRL+V).

4. THEN, before you SUBMIT your post, be sure to PREVIEW it first. You should see the image. If not, double check your code.


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## cichlidaholic

etcbrown said:


> Sorry but I really must disagree that Metriaclima callainos do not show any barring.


I've raised hundreds of _quality_ Cobalt zebras, and I've NEVER seen a bar on one of them. I have seen bars on fry produced by some that I sold when they were housed with M. estherae, as well as darker colouration. :wink:

The white ones are referred to as "pearl" callainos, and it doesn't sound like the OP is describing anything close to an OB or white.


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## baza

Thanks so much joea, you have just opened up a world of opportunity for me lol i can now post pics of all my fish on here now WOW.

thanks

what do you guys think it is, it is the blueish fish in the centre of most of the pics


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## cichlidaholic

Definitely NOT M. callainos...

In all probability, you'll never know for sure what it is. It does look like a zebra type, but once something is sold to you as one thing and turns out to be something completely different, it's very difficult to pin down what it really is, especially so with zebras, since there are so many questionable ones out there.


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## etcbrown

Agree that those fish are NOT callainos.

And here are some photos of M. callainos taken in Lake Malawi by Ad Konings, and they clearly show stripes.


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## saturnine

glad to hear that m.callainos can show bars... :thumb: 
i made a post a time agoand same answers said that mine
couldn't be m callainos because it has some bars... :-?

here are same pictures off him


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## baza

hi

Ok so could mine turn out like that and the bars dissapear or did i just get some mon%grel hybrid that i will have to destroy from a dic#head breeder?


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## Fogelhund

etcbrown said:


> And here are some photos of M. callainos taken in Lake Malawi by Ad Konings, and they clearly show stripes.


Of course, not the same collection point as the callainos in the hobby, so really not that relevant. Really the equivalent of having a blue fry, from your Yellow Lab female... and saying, but hey, blue Labs occur in the wild... :wink:

In the 25 years I've been in the hobby, I've never seen a pure callainos "cobalt" with striping. I suppose it is possible, though one would have to conclude that it was a very poor specimen if it were to happen.


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## etcbrown

We have had this discussion before, the photos shown were from Chitande island and Chesese of which both are in very common collection areas along the northwest shoreline. So just because you have never seen a callainos with barring in your 25 years doesn't mean they don't exist. I have seen them in my 30+ years in the mbuna hobby.

And saying its like blue fry from a yellow lab female is just silly. A failed analogy that is nothing like this situation. Everyone that has answered has told the OP his fish are not callainos.


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## baza

hi

Just thought id give an update on this, i have noticed the larger of the fish has several small orange egg spots at the back of his dorsal fin and the very tip of his dorsal fin is getting a orange kinda tips along it although they are very difficult to see.

Upon doing further research is it possible that these fish are the "blue" zebra males that people sometimes talk about??

I can get a pic if needed

thanks


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## baza

here is the updated clearer pic?

Anyone think this may be a blue zebra male? I dont even know if we have those in australia?

I would love to know because if its not i will destroy the fish i dont want hybrids

thanks


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## cichlidaholic

It could be an estherae male of the blue/red variant, but honestly, it's going to be impossible to say with any certainty.

If a zebra is mislabeled when you purchase it, the odds of identifying it properly aren't great!

He's a very nice fish, though, and we know he isn't a Cobalt. :wink:

Just be careful and don't distribute any fry from him unless you can confirm his identity.

saturnine, that fish is most likely a cross between a kenyi and Cobalt. It's still _not_ a callainos.

The ones we have access to in the hobby do NOT have barring. If they do, they aren't pure callainos, or, as Fogelhund stated, very poor quality and of questionable origin.



> I have seen them in my 30+ years in the mbuna hobby.


etcbrown, I've seen parrot fish, too, but that doesn't make them anything other than what they are...


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## baza

hi

Thanks for that kim. Unfortunately i do not want hybrids in my tank so i will destroy both these fish.

thanks


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## etcbrown

> etcbrown, I've seen parrot fish, too, but that doesn't make them anything other than what they are...


Touche'


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