Can anyone identify this rainbow fish?

[FishEnthusiast]

Hi,

I went to the lfs and asked for 2 female Boesmani's to go with my 3 males and 1 female. I got one female and this one

Sorry about the quality, he/she moves around alot. When I saw them in the bag in the store, I thought it was a female Boesmani, but when I put him/her in the tank, his/her colors changed. Now he is almost yellow. Sometimes I think he might be a male Boesmani, because I see a darker patch of colour near the front of his body, but the yellow goes from front to back. I think it is a male, but I am not entirely sure. He is in quarantine with the other female I bought, and they interact well. Can anyone tell me what kind of fish I have? I really like him and I am going to keep him, but I am wondering if I should get some more of the same species if he isn't a Boesmani. I have a 55G that is going to house the 6 Rainbows I have and 3 angels. Could I add another schoal of 6 rainbows? would I be overstocking?

Thanks

 

[pendragon]

I'm not at all certain, but it could be an adolescent Melanotaenia herbertaxelrodi, also called Axelrod's Rainbowfish (actually, there are several rainbows that are often called by this common name).

When rainbowfishes are hard to identify it's possible you could have a hybrid of some kind, but you shouldn't assume so. Many rainbowfishes will readily interbreed, which is highly frowned upon in the aquarium trade.

In any case, you probably won't know what it is until it grows to adulthood. It should be much easier to identify then.

pendragon!