Albino: Socolofi Or Zebra?

[Meggy]

The pair of albinos I bought a few weeks ago have grown and now I'm much less sure of what one of them is.

I am positive one is p. socolofi. The other, which I'd assumed was a male of the same species, definitely has more pointed dorsal and anal fins, not to mention a yellow color, so maybe he's a zebra.

Now I wonder if both are males of different species. At first the orangey one (zebra?) acted much like a male showing off for a female - making nests, quivering, etc. for the other fish, who is only white and who has more rounded fins. Now he's stopped doing all that but is still obviously a male, at any rate.

Here's a pic of the two, with the suspected ZEBRA-not-socolofi in front.

 

[Ferris]

Whilst there are no apparent stripes on the fish in the foreground, i suspect it is a zebra (definately male). I have only ever seen the yellow tint on the fins on albino zebra's and never on socolofi.

The fish in the background is definately a socolofi.

They should both do OK although there may be the occasional dispute due to the similar appearance. I have kept both albino species together in single numbers with no serious problems.

 

[Meggy]

Whilst there are no apparent stripes on the fish in the foreground, i suspect it is a zebra (definately male). I have only ever seen the yellow tint on the fins on albino zebra's and never on socolofi.

The fish in the background is definately a socolofi.

They should both do OK although there may be the occasional dispute due to the similar appearance. I have kept both albino species together in single numbers with no serious problems.

thanks. it just hit me the other day! the differences between the two become more apparent all the time. but at first, even the fish themselves seemed to be fooled, heh.

i love your icon. i have a demasoni and he's the cutest thing.

 

[Ferris]

i love your icon. i have a demasoni and he's the cutest thing.

They are great, along with Afra's they are my favourites.

 

[Meggy]

i have another q for you. i had the information on my home computer, which has become quite dead thanks to rita (i guess).

anyway, i also have a pair of orange fish that are very similar in conformation to the socolofi. the orange is like the color of a leleupi. i forgot what these guys are. i know i remember reading that the males turn blue, with a look very similar to the demasoni. any ideas? again, i based my identification on some online research so i could be completely wrong about the species, but i'm pretty sure. i do remember they're a malawi mbuna.

i have one crappy pic that is head-on, and not much help (my two are still solid orange, but one has some blue happening at the front of his dorsal fin):

 

[Meggy]

one more question! ...or two.

is this guy a golden zebra, or an albino?

also - what's the correct species name? can't find "pseudotropheus zebra" in cichlid forum's profiles.

 

[Ferris]

1st question sounds like Pseudotropheus Saulosi, when young they are a yellow/orange colour but the males turn two-tone blue, very similar to Demasoni.


The other albino is definately a Pseudotropheus Zebra (albino, not golden). P.Zebra is commonly used for these fish but it is a generic term. For example Red Zebra's are also known as Metriaclima/Maylandia Estherae. There is plenty of onfo on the net if you search for Pseudotropheus Zebra.