Elassoma Evergladei: gold? blue? platinum?

I have a question about not one fish specifically, but about a species. What is up with elassoma evergladei? I have seen fish that are gold, blue, and like a platinum color. Are these color morphs all evergladei?

I am posting three photos below. This first one is one from my tank, which I'm pretty sure is evergladei. Note the gold. I've never seen any gold on my gilberti.



This second one (blue) was marketed as elassoma gilberti. I think it could be evergladei. But it's very blue, which is something I associate with gilberti/okefenokee. What is your opinion? If you have elassoma evergladei, do yours ever turn blue like this?


This third photo was taken by David Kirk of his evergladei in the UK:


That's just crazy. That color is like platinum, iridescent, awesome. Has anyone else ever seen one look like that, or was it a fluke flash photo?

And what's up with this? What is this, evergladei still? It's so blue.


This is one crazy, color morphing fish.
I wonder if all of them can be any of these colors, of if some males are only gold and some males are only blue.

Erica,

You are correct. This is a highly vaiable species. I have seen these guys with all of the colors you listed, except the platinum which I suspect may be an artifact of the flash. I have seen blue and gold with either spots or stripes. The ones I have locally stay very small, <0.75 in, and have blue spangles. I have seen them in FL that get fairly large and have the blue lines, very similar to okefenokee/gilberti.

I agree with Dustin, and the color can vary with the type and angle of lighting, as well as the fish's mood and social status. The ones I've seen range from greenish-gold to blue-green/turquoise, but never the deep royal blue that we see in okee & gilberti. Also I have never (yet) seen evergladei with a distinct blue margin along the dorsal, caudal, and anal edges like okee & gilberti. For that reason I agree photo #2 is probably okee or gilberti.

Look at the snout and caudal peduncle on fish #2 Gerald. I have seen evergladei with color in the fins before though I will admit that it is less common and typically more diffuse than in okee/gilberti. I stll believe #2 is an evergladei.

You're right, the head-body shape looks everglade-ish. I thought that might just be the angle of the fish toward the camera. Without more pics, that's a tough one to call.