Now as a caveat, there are probably 5-6 rarer Pseudotropheus species that go through a very similar coloration change-they're just much harder to find without special ordering.
PALE RED ZEBRA CICHLID FULL
My money is on you having a Pseudotropheus, it's tough to say until it's come into it's full adult coloration, however, the most commonly available fish to go through that coloration is a Pseudotropheus saulosi, and if i were a betting man, that'd be my best guess as to your fish.
![pale red zebra cichlid pale red zebra cichlid](https://www.itsafishthing.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Red-Zebra-Cichlid.jpg)
Most will be gray or the yellow fish will have a very dark dorsal band if they are gold). However, I'd expect to see a more prominent forehead slope, a different jaw angle, and a much higher body, especially towards the head of the fish (now there are Metriaclima "Elongatus" complexes which are longer fish like yours, however, I can't think of any of those that start out as a solid gold. It could be a Metriaclima hybrid, as hybrids are all over the hobby especially if you didn't buy the fish from a reputable source, or picked it up from the "mixed african cichlids" tank in your LFS. I'm pretty confident the fish in question isn't even a Metriaclima, let alone a Metriaclima estherae "Red Zebra". The yellow to blue/black gender coloration as a fish matures is super common, both in Metriaclima and Pseudtropheus. I cull these fish from my stock.So what you've got there is most assuredly a transitioning male fish. These guys are reverting back to the Tangerine colour. If there is anyone out there with these fish and can see what I am trying to say could you give me a hand here please? I now just say that the Males are more “boofy” looking in the head or conversely the females have a softer shape to their head. I say sadly because I have never been able to explain it well enough to others without having a male and female to show them the difference I have never relied on the egg spots and I don’t even look at them any more, sadly though the only way I can tell is by the shape of their head. Now I believe that they were called Bulu point Zebra by the people that bread them as a trade name. Later, when stocks of the fish were found at Minos reef they also started to do it with them but the stock from Metangula were so far advanced they decided to discontinue with the Minos reef stock. I later found out that the fish were line breed from the tangerine zebra P. Take the bottom curve from the B and you get a P. Well it then dawned on me that perhaps the name on the bag that had been smudged also and the fish was from another location.
![pale red zebra cichlid pale red zebra cichlid](https://www.aquaholicsonline.com.au/assets/alt_1/LF-REDZ4CM.jpg)
Some time had passed and I had sent these fish to Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane, they soon popped up in Adelaide.Īs I was preparing bags for sale one day I noticed the texta smudged and the fish name was a good one after smudging but it did not describe the fish. I even got the group that went to Malawi to check it out for me. I searched and searched for the answer and found nothing in maps regarding a Pulu point in Lake Malawi. I was beating my head against the wall for a while but eventually found that Pulu Point is actually in Lake Tanganyika where there are no Zebras. I then started to track them down and find the location in the lake.
![pale red zebra cichlid pale red zebra cichlid](http://gallery.kingsnake.com/data/19509red-zebra-cichlid-malawi.jpg)
The Pulu Point Zebra came in a few years ago (Guess who bought them lol) and when they arrived one the bags were marked “PULU POINT ZEBRA” and the ink was smudged.