Zebra Red Top

[YourPalCM]

I have had one Ps. Unknown that I have just realized is a Ps. Zebra Red Top. It was one of the fish I got when I first bought my few Cichlids and didn't know what I was doing (which wasn't that long ago.) I saw a tank of a couple identical fish at my LFS - and was told they are Ps. ZRT's.

I didn't realize it was a Ps. Zebra Red Top because it doesn't look anything like any of the Ps. Zebra Red Top pictures that I've seen. Mine is still a juvenile, has an almost all brown body with yellowish fins. He does have faint bars, and at time she/he looks brown with a barely visible faint purple sheen.

I couldn't seem to find any pictures of FEMALE Zebra Red Tops, so my question is, do I have a FEMALE Ps. Zebra Red Top, or is this the juvenile colors of a PZRT and will he eventually look like the pictures that I've seen once he/she reaches adulthood? (That is, beautiful blue/grey vertical bars with bright yellow fins.)

[Bootlegger]

It sounds male based on color but they are difficult to sex at that age. IMO, zebra males develop the angular anal fin and more prominant dorsal early, so it is easier to determine their sex.

Female rtz's are dull and brown I believe much like a female BB, so since you are seeing so much color I think it is most likely a male.