If it is not the alpha of the tank, this may account for the lack of coloration.
Any male cichlid put in a tank where others are more dominant, may not show true colors, or even females without potential mates may wimp out color wise in a cichlid community tank(a community with non-cichlids except one species of cichlid is not a problem).
For any cichlid to show full potential, in a community of like tempered, similarly robust cichlids is sometimes a bad idea.
As an example, here is a female festae in a community tank of robust personality cichlids, but with no other festae.
below when I put that same female, in a tank with a male and a couple other female festae.
And I agree yours does look like a male, and putting him in a tank where he is the alpha (maybe without other domineering cichlids) may go a long way to improving his coloration, spurred on by a superior status
