can someone tell me if this is the same species

[level65druid]

I got these two today and they were both sold to me as orange striped cardinals. Can someone tell me why the colors are different, the big one has a spot and the snout looks a little different as well. Are there variants of this species or is this a male/female thing or possibly juvenile/adult thing. Just want to make sure I got 2 orange striped cardinals. Thanks

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Is it possible that one is male and the other is female

 

[level65druid]

been looking at pictures online at mated pairs with eggs in the mouth and the female and male both look identical. They look like the smaller one in my pic. That big one almost reminds me of a miniature rockfish.

 

[level65druid]

the big one also has blue reflection in its eyes and snout area like the threadfin cardinals.

 

[SoloChromis]

The larger one looks to be a Seale's cardinal, and the smaller one seems to more closely resemble a yellowlined cardinal to me.

 

[jraker]

the closer one (not yellow) looks like Apogon sealei. the other is Ostorhinchus cyanosoma.

 

[level65druid]

what about spotted gill cardinalfish? apogon chrysopomus. the sealei and chrysopomus looks very similar.

 

[jraker]

what about spotted gill cardinalfish? apogon chrysopomus. the sealei and chrysopomus looks very similar.

doesnt really matter what species they are, they are basically the same fish with slight color differences