Sexing Hypancistrus

[AndrewC]

http://www.zebrapleco.com/articles/2_L4 ... finish.php

The article above is the way i sex my hypancistrus and it is a lot easier when sexing adults as they tend to show the different characteristics more prominently.
i,e,
Body shape - mature females usually are more plump than males.
Odontodal growth - males generally have more growth than females.
Fins - females have a slightly more crescent shaped pectoral fin than the male.
(Fins is one of the methods i find very hard to see).

Is there any other signs to look out for when sexing hypancistrius ?

A few years ago i travelled to Pier Aquatics in Wigan and Neil (the owner) sexed the different species of hypancistrus i bought, and his sexing of the fish turned out to be spot on after i grew them on.
I was looking for six L340, and Neil had a large polybox with a bunch of L340 in it.
I wanted three females and three males, and Neil picked fish out of the box, had a quick look at them, bagged certain ones, while sometimes putting other fish back in the polybox.
What would Neil have been looking for to sex the fish ?
I also got a young pair of Queen Arabesque which matured into a nice pair.

What do you look for when sexing younger hypancistrus that don't show the sexing signs that an adult hypancistrus generally does ?
I read about nose shape, females have a more curved nose, whereas, males have a more pointed nose ?

[jac]

At the L Welse days at Hanover Ingo made up a list of 9 critic's to look for when sexing a fish.

He found the following key differentiators
size
girth of body
coloration
head shape
size and length of fins
growth with odontodes
growth with tentacle
shape of the genital papilla
shape of the teeth

Unfortunately, all these features do not meet all species, and if one of these criteria can be drawn from one species into consideration, the difference is not always clearly marked.
One should therefore not focus on a single feature, but the Individum as a whole look.