Can I get an I.D. on these little pikes?

[Plec123]

i ordered this group of 4 juvenile pike cichlids a couple months ago as Crenicichla saxatilis. They were around 1.5" when I got them, and now they're starting to show different color patterns even at 3". Two are much fatter, with mostly plain bodies and a very faint pink hue to the belly, and two are thinner and have no pink but some gold and iridescent speckles on the caudal fin.
Are these definitely C. saxatilis, and if so, does this mean I am looking at the beginnings of being able to sex them even at this small size?
Pics of each color pattern attached. Apologies for the blurriness, they never sit still.

 

[duanes]

The pink fatter bellies usually indicate females.
There about 50 location variants of saxatillus, and over 100 species of Crenicichla that range from the tropical north of S America, to the temperate cool waters of the south, so trying to determine variation and species, unless you know where they or their ancestors were caught is a bit daunting.

above are some wild caught C saxatillus "Uruguay"
below a more tropical variant.

 

[duanes]

By the way, appearances change quite a bit as they age, this is one of the Uruguayan pikes from the 1st pic, as an adult @ 8"

 

[Plec123]

By the way, appearances change quite a bit as they age, this is one of the Uruguayan pikes from the 1st pic, as an adult @ 8"

That's really interesting. I wonder how mine will look as they age.
These fish were all farmed by AZgardens, so I'm hoping they're all the same geographic variant, whatever their ancestors might have been.

 

[robmcd]

They look like jusvenile c. sveni to me. I have raised more sveni than any other species and they looked like yours.

 

[kno4te]

They look like jusvenile c. sveni to me. I have raised more sveni than any other species and they looked like yours.

I’ve had small svenis too but the pattern was more blotchy. Maybe sedentaria.

 

[Goggy]

I don’t think this is any sort of saxatilis group pike cichlid. The lack of a large, ocellated humeral spot makes me think this.

This is likely a crenicichla from the reticulata group and to me it seems a little too young to know what it is for sure. My guess would be C. sp. belly crawler because of how common they are and because the snout of your seems more elongated than the usual reticulata pike.

could be a couple different things though: sp. belly crawler, sedentaria, cyclostoma

 

[Plec123]

Seems like they are pretty up in the air, lol.
I guess I'll post some pics once they get a few more inches to them, it'll be neat to see how they change.

 

[Goggy]

does this mean I am looking at the beginnings of being able to sex them even at this small size?

The females will have a large ocellated spot in the dorsal and males will lack this spot.

could be a couple different things though: sp. belly crawler, sedentaria, cyclostoma

Forgot to mention C. geayi.