Please help me identify these two

We all know how difficult it is to identify the sex of these fish, so please post a picture in here and we'll try to help you (or at least give an educated guess!).
Post Reply
lrry93
Obsessed!!
Posts: 110
Joined: Sun Mar 13, 2005 12:09 am
Location: Hawaii

Please help me identify these two

Post by lrry93 »

I finally found some zebra plecos to buy here in Hawaii and am wodering what sex they are. Can anyone please help me? They are both a little over two inches.

[/img]Image

Image[/img]
User avatar
Rob
Hypan-guru!
Posts: 1568
Joined: Sun Sep 19, 2004 11:50 am
Location: Southwest Scotland
Contact:

Post by Rob »

At first glance, I woudl say you were in luck!!!! Top one looks likea young female, and the bottom one looks like a young male.

The female at the top has a slightly longer pectorial fins than I would expect, but she will grow into them.

I may be completely wrong as they are hard to sex at this age, but thats my tupence worth!!!!

Oh, and welcome tot he forum, I'm sure if you ask a few questions and read the articles you'll manage to get them spawning.

Good luck

Rob
The perfect white lie..."Of course I didn't pay that much for the fish honey"
User avatar
Barbie
Moderator
Posts: 1146
Joined: Sun Oct 10, 2004 9:07 pm
Location: Spokane, WA, US
Contact:

Post by Barbie »

I would have to disagree, I still think that top one is male. The pectorals have that tell tale straight spot in them that seems to be a reliable indicator for males. The picture for the second one makes it difficult to tell at all.

Keep in mind, in my group of 11, I was told I had everything from all females, to almost no females. I'd decided they were gay and I was just going to ignore them and not worry about the problem for awhile. They spawned within a few weeks ;). Telling sex from pictures without a wide assortment of angles for each fish is just guessing, IMO.

Give them tightly fit caves. If they both use them, they're male ;).

Barbie
[url=http://www.plecos.com][img]http://plecos.com/plecosbanner.gif[/img][/url]
User avatar
Rob
Hypan-guru!
Posts: 1568
Joined: Sun Sep 19, 2004 11:50 am
Location: Southwest Scotland
Contact:

Post by Rob »

Could well be right Barbie, I am looking at the primary crescent shape of the Pectorial fins and the top profile of the head. However, as stated they are sightly longer than I would expect, so I might be completely off the mark Maybe in a few months time, after some fattening up it will be easier to tell. :lol:

Rob
The perfect white lie..."Of course I didn't pay that much for the fish honey"
Des
Mentally Certified!
Posts: 553
Joined: Mon Oct 04, 2004 10:06 pm
Location: Surrey, England

Post by Des »

Irry93,

Welcome to the forum.
I would say that the top picture is a Male. especially from seeing the long cheek odontodes/bristles.
The bottom picture is a little out of focus so therefore cannot be sure. If it has cheek bristles as long as the one in the top picture, it is a male. If it has much smaller bristles , not much longer than the cheek groove,than it is a female .

Des.
Post Reply