ZebraPleco.com • The complete Hypancistrus zebra resource

At an exorbiant price, but I managed to haggle it down a bit.... I just hope I managed to pick a female? What do you think? *crossing my fingers*

I am no expert, not at all, I am sure I can't tell a male from a female, but aren't the leading edges of the pectorals supposed to be thicker and 'spikier' on a male than on the female? The bottom pic shows a nice thick leading edge with spikes, though I have definitely seen spik,ier ones in pics on other sites.

BTW, the fish is 7 cm long, I just measured it

You're right Ed_R, the fish does have odontodal growth on the leading ray, but I have another female with more than this one has, and the male has so much of it that it looks like a black shadow along the fin. Not all males have so much of it though...

Like I said, I'm definitely no expert.

I didn't mean to dismiss your opinion Ed_R! I'm just over anxious...

I'm sorry... I'll be quiet now and let you guys give your opinions

NO, no! I'm not qualified to GIVE an opnion, honest!, so I couldn't tell the difference if I l had to!

Thanks Barbie! I was well on my way to only look at the proprtions between the fins when trying to identify the gender, but this fish didn't quite fit that characteristic. On the other hand, it has very crescent shaped pectoral fins, it has the pinched look by the gills, and it also has a "forehead". I was hoping this was good enough to identify it as a girl.

It's so much harder to identify a fish when you stand there in the shop, comparing one fish to the other, and thinking I must find a girl! Much easier to look at a picture of somebody elses fish - why is that I wonder

As you say, I hope she thinks she's a girl as well! There's still a not so small amount of guessing involved, and I'm very happy you think she's a girl as well

Rob and Des, Adam and you others - care to share what you think?

Hi McEve,

You picked correctly. It surely is a female. 100 % sure.( by body shape- which is a dead give away, short cheek odontodes and odontodes on leading pectoral, not too excessive.)

Regards,
Des

Thank you

From devastation to joy in 24 hours

congratulations! its a girl in perfect condition, all you need now is to quarantine and fatten her up and she is ready to go.

Thank you! I'm so happy She's doing fine after her first night It's always a bit nervous when you get a new fish, to see how they acclimatize, but everything is looking fine!

And welcome to the forum zebra046!

Oh, and thanks a lot Adam, now I'm mentally certified thanks to you

Congrats McEve. Good luck and Hope she spawns for you soon.

Congratulations on finding another Zebra! I would also say this is a female, no hesitation!

Thanks both

Here's a side view of her after being acclimitized. Please don't change your mind about the gender now though

I'll make that a link as the picture is rather large

So far she behaves like a female. She has chosen to stay under a pice of slate instead of in the cave available, so I'm pretty confident she will agree she's a she