sexing panaque maccus

[alvin]

Hi

Besides checking for odontal growth along the pectoral and lower half of the body is there any other way to distinguish between male and female panaque maccus? For example, if I wanted to look at the sexual organs, what would be the distinguishing trait? Is there colouration differences or any other physical differences that would be apparent.

All help much appreciated.

Thanks

[MatsP]

One would suspect that genital papillae differences exist, but in such a small fish it can be hard to tell. Females in good condition will be a bit fatter than males, but if you walk into a LFS, it's highly likely that the fish aren't in sufficiently good condition, so if you are looking to sex some fish in the shop, that may not help much.

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Mats

[alvin]

Hi Matsp

Thanks for the invaluable information and advice. I am going to buy 5 and hope once they have settled in that I will be able to tell the difference.

Thanks again.

[MatsP]

You may also try the trick I use when not sure: Of similar-sized fish, pick a few of the larger ones and a few of the smaller ones. That is more likely to give you some of each, since males and females often do grow at different rates (and have different ultimate size).

Of course, this assumes the fish aren't of completely different age - getting one 1" fish and a 3" fish isn't what I'm suggesting.

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Mats

[alvin]

I will definately go with your suggestion. Thanks again