sexual differences for parotocinclus maculicauda

fish fodder · Post by **fish fodder** » 27 Nov 2006, 16:48

is there any? apart from the gential papilla?

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 27 Nov 2006, 17:01

Possibly that females are "fatter" than the males. I don't know, it's just a fairly common scenario.

Since these are definitely fish that you'd want to keep in a reasonable group to get them happy, I'd say the approach of buying ten should work - then you're almost certain to have a mix of males and females. [Assuming there's 50/50 born and captured, you'll have 99.8% chance of getting at least one of each sex - obviously, the 8 ones in the "middle" are some distinct sex too...]

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Mats

fish fodder · Post by **fish fodder** » 27 Nov 2006, 17:26

i have 5 at the moment, and really cant tell any differences, i did read that males have a red first ray on their dorsal and pectoral fins but whether thats true or not i dont know as all mine do.......so maybe all male! lol

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 27 Nov 2006, 17:32

I don't know - but if it turns out that this is so, then we certainly should update the Cat-eLog, as that's a much easier way to tell them apart than venting them...

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Mats

fish fodder · Post by **fish fodder** » 27 Nov 2006, 18:03

it was from a baensch photo atlas i read it!

fish fodder · Post by **fish fodder** » 27 Nov 2006, 21:20

just noticed they change colour too, 3 of them were on the white sand substrate and the entire top half went pale, the other 2 were on bog wood and they were dark mottled brown. i noticed that when one of the substrate ones decided to graze on the wood it slowly changed to the dark mottled brown. not very interesting but thought i would share it.

kkorotev · Post by **kkorotev** » 28 Nov 2006, 00:04

As I revisit the pictures I have and have posted here on PC, I REMEMBER there was a difference...and remember it wasn't real obvious until the fish were mature.
The males were darker, redder (where the Baensch mentions they are) and slimmer. The females pattern is lighter and when gravid, are obviously thicker.
Hope that helps.
Kevin

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 28 Nov 2006, 10:06

fish fodder wrote:it was from a baensch photo atlas i read it!

My Baensch Aquarium Atlas Vol 2. says that this is "uncertain".

Kevin: Are you saying that once they are mature, the red fins are definitely an indication of males?

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Mats

fish fodder · Post by **fish fodder** » 28 Nov 2006, 22:37

its the photo atlas one 1-5

kkorotev · Post by **kkorotev** » 29 Nov 2006, 00:34

MatsP,

No. I'm sorry if I misled you.

The "red" was an insignificant characteristic of the fish I had. It was an attractive trait, but not breathtaking.
By the time they're mature enough to spawn, you'll know which is which...assuming you have both!

Kevin

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 29 Nov 2006, 09:53

kkorotev wrote:MatsP,

No. I'm sorry if I misled you.

The "red" was an insignificant characteristic of the fish I had. It was an attractive trait, but not breathtaking.
By the time they're mature enough to spawn, you'll know which is which...assuming you have both!

Kevin

Thanks for the clarification - so it's a "nice feature" but not something we can put in the Cat-eLog on the subject of "sexing"...

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Mats

kkorotev · Post by **kkorotev** » 30 Nov 2006, 00:27

Well, sure, you COULD, but not as a single definitive trait. It would need to appear in a list of things.