Red Rainbow Fish ID Help

[absolutangel04]

Disclaimer: Not my fish, not my tank. Just a situation I am trying to help fix.

Any ideas what kind of rainbow these guys are? I have a guess, but I am going to keep it to myself for now so I don't taint your answers.
I have never kept any species of rainbow before, so it is not something I know a ton about.

 

[Wroberson]

Your fish looks like this fish, bet there are a few with thin horizontal stripes.

Melanotaenia maccullochi

 

[tamtam]

I had also thought about the above mention but I poked around a couple more and thought i'd throw these ones out there. I think the first could be a real contender

Melanotaenia australis

Melanotaenia utcheensis

 

[absolutangel04]

Thanks for the ideas. I was thinking M. australis personally. That seemed to be the closest color pattern I could find while searching. There were a couple of other, more obscure options, but I think the Australian is most likely. I will look into it a bit more to find some differentiating characteristics.

 

[tamtam]

Thanks for the ideas. I was thinking M. australis personally. That seemed to be the closest color pattern I could find while searching. There were a couple of other, more obscure options, but I think the Australian is most likely. I will look into it a bit more to find some differentiating characteristics.

I was also thinking that one the most when I came across it. The fins really stand out to me, they are just a bit different.

 

[Tony Gill]

They are either Melanotaenia australis, or (unfortunately) a hybrid with that species and M. splendida. Many of the Australian rainbows available from aquarium stores in the US are fish farm hybrids. If you are interested in getting pure stock, or other rainbowfish species, try this site: Rainbowfish Forum :: Index

Tony

 

[absolutangel04]

Thank you Tony. I appreciate your input. A hybrid would make sense since the fish seem to be a little off of the pure bred characteristics.
These fish are at a local educational building, so I mostly just needed the species to be able to help try and get them a bigger tank than the one they are in. 10g at the moment, but I am trying to get them into something bigger.