Top two pictures show a two year old adult male Metriaclima estherae (aka red zebra).

Another of my mbuna from Lake Malawi (with Minos Reef being the most common location referenced) with the common name "red zebra". Most of my females have one to three egg spots, and the males tend to have five or more. The males sometimes have a whiteish cast to the body with maybe even a blueish tint in the dorsal fins. The first male red zebra I owned had this whiteish look but this one does not. In the wild most of the males are blue but the red/orange males have been bred almost exclusively in the USA aquarium trade. This cichlid is no longer in the Pseudotropheus genus but it seems that no one can decide for sure if the new genus name should be Metriaclima or Maylandia. Recently some of the local fish stores have had what they call "cherry red zebras" which are much more red than orange. Of course, that doesn't mean that any red zebra is ever actually red at all. The picture below is of a six year old female. Notice the smaller rounded fins. The red zebras are often one of the more aggressive mbuna.

I recently (June 2008) purchased some F1 (first generation from wild caught) M. estherae. So for the first time I have the "blue" males.

Above and below are the F1 female estherae. Note that these females have 5 to 9 egg spots.

The blue isn't really all that blue. It is more of a dull blue-gray. I'm not real sure why people have so much trouble distinguishing between the Metriaclima callainos (blue cobalt zebra) and the blue male Metriaclima estherae.

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