Thorichthys species ID

I managed to get some good natural light photos this morning to better show some of the markings.

I believe they were listed as ellioti "blue flash"
Excluding the fins it appears the iridescence is below the lateral line.

So maculipinnis?

Those are beautiful ! I dont have words of wisdom, but can share my past and current keeps. I had "Ellioti" in past, and it seemed a slight larger than Firemouths. Has a less prominent false eye marking. I have a Robertsoni, which is referred to as false Firemouth. Larger and has intense iridescent scales and finnage. I also have 5 Firemouths and at very young, all of these resemble each other, but *** seen changes as they mature. Pic of colored down Robertsoni and Firemouth

Slight coloration differences (lighter/darker, speckled or not) or even slightly difference in overall shape of certain individuals from different locations does not mean they are different species.
The topography of one river, compared to the next, can influence which colors or shapes are more survivable in one vs. the other, only a mile or two down the road.

If the substrate is dark and stoney in a certain river, the majority of a spawn that is less easily predated upon might be darker, more mottled, and pass on the genes to favor those dark individuals.

Same thing might occur if the substrate is sandy, and favor those of a spawn with lighter less mottled coloration, to survive by having a lighter overall background.

Other factors such as overhanging terrestrial vegetation, and how much shade is created, or whether flow makes the surface of the water sparkle, may also influence what individuals are able to pass on genes.

One of the favorite examples of a species I kept, is Chuco intermedia.
I kept variants from different two separate rivers, each river had different topography, and the variation within the species was striking.

Although both are the same species, color, and even spotting patterns are obviously quite different.

Of course one of the most obvious examples of this, is Vieja melanurum, and synspillus, where for years they were thought to be different species by experts, because of their striking color differences, but.....
we now know, thru DNA sequencing, they are simply color variants of the same species, V. melanurus, each adapted to different habitat topography.

Thanks for the information Duane!
I always look forward to your replies.
There's certainly a lot more at play to trigger the evolutionary process than we typically think of as aquarists.

I see your point with the chuco intermedia, beautiful fish by the way

I suppose it's not crazy to think that some of the species within thorichthys may later be categorized as subspecies or regional variants of other species.
I was especially surprised to learn their close relation to trichromis Salvini.

It seems like every decade a bunch of variants get species status and a bunch of species get variant status. Ichthyology and specifically the taxonomy of freshwater new world cichlids must be a fascinating field to work in.

In the 20 years I've kept cichlids the names have changed a heck of a lot.

It appears these fish are actual maculipinnis which is fantastic news as I have never kept them in the past. Only t. Aureum, t. 'mixteco blue' and t. Meeki.
I'd love to find t. Socolofi or t. Passionis !

These young ones are very social and congregate a lot.