Fish Sex ID

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T-man02

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Apr 10, 2011
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co. us
I have a rz and was curious what are some general coloration patterns. I'm not home right now and put picture on later. Thanks
Ps I'm not exactly sure what to look for when venting so some help there would be appreciated

-Trevor
 
If by rz you mean red zebra (metriclima/maylandia estherae), there are a couple of answers to your question.

In Lake Malawi, numerically m. estherae (blue morph) predominates. Males are bluish and females are orange. This 'wild type' red zebra is one one of the few mbuna species that are dimorphic from birth (with most other dimorphic mbuna species the males undergo a color transition as they mature while females retain the juvenile pattern. Male 'wild type' red zebras bear a resemblence to the cobalt blue zebra (m. callainos), though there are differences.

M. estherae (blue), definately male due to color:
img_1953727_0_fb09ad6dbe94978c7b72222efa7ffb74.jpg


M. estherae (red or orange morph) seems to predominate the hobby with both males and females being orangish. I'm assuming this is the type you have since they seem to be the most common type of red zebra in the hobby.

As the males of this type of red zebra mature they may become lighter in color, sometimes nearly pinkish, and their dorsal fins take on a blue hue (the dorsals of females remain orangish. This gender difference develops while the fish are still small (less than 3").

Matured male m. estherae with blue-hued dorsal:
img_1953727_1_d6a7f1d553f8ee135daa83aa5f748fac.jpg


Young female m. estherae with orange dorsal
img_1953727_2_83032b51ff3e60e91ca9e09a27e7831f.jpg


Larger mouth-brooding female with orange dorsal
img_1953727_3_dca699681fb558a2d5f8e4dfb228cd2f.jpg


Maturing young males (note the blue hued dorsals)
img_1953727_4_55933ed84b421e488b2fea0aa79f264d.jpg


Small juvie of undetermined gender
img_1953727_5_c2551788599834717469ac334af478c6.jpg

There's also an orange-blotched (OB) variety of m. estherae (orange with black blotches).
 
so mine looks like the second pic. but the lady at my LFS said that the darker solid orange ones were the males and the pale ones with the blue fins were females. so does she have that swithched
 
the lady at the lfs is wrong, males are lighter in color with the blue on the fins. kaybee is 100% correct
 
The way i always look at is aggression and vibrant color, There are female
And male rz. Males generally are more vibrant and usually have more spots on the anal fin.
 
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