Dwarf gourami, identifying sex...

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schoeplein

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One means of identification is their dorsal (top) fin. For males, the tip near the tail fin is pointed, and extends back past where the tail begins. On females, the dorsal fin is rounded, and ends before the tail fin. Similar to rams.

Females also generally have larger abdomen as well.

Coloring is the third method. It is generally known that female dwarf gourami of all variants tend to have lackluster coloring, or nearly no coloring at all. However, it seems that is not always the case.

I have three baby blue females (no stripes) that are just as vibrant as their male counterparts. Their dorsal fins and abdomen meet the female criteria. My "regular" female dwarf gourami exhibit the expected coloring - a kind of drab, flat yellow. They didn't have any when I ordered, but the flame females also appeared to be a drab, flat orange color.

I have two males (one with inverted striping, the other is flame) that are clearly male. Coloring and dorsal fins meet the male criteria. Skinny abdomen.

I just added a third, what should be a male standard dwarf gourami. It exhibits the expected coloring of a male (orange with blue stripes). However, it's dorsal fin appears to identify it as female, and it does have a rather large abdomen.

As the blues I have are exhibiting coloring similar to their males and are definitely female, is it also possible for a standard dwarf gourami female to exhibit regular coloring (bright orange with blue stripes)?

The picture is one of my female blues.

All of these except the new one came from aquariumfish.net and I must admit they shipped me some healthy, quality stock.

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I guess the only way to be sure is to sit and watch... The males will hover at the surface, practicing bubble nest making.

Are the length of their feelers a means of identifying sex? All my females seem to have shorter feelers...

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Very hard to sexy young gourami

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