Male Flavus holding?

[basantaj]

Hi all,

I have two flavus mbuna (among other flavus) which I always thought were male and female.

However, I think that what I always thought was the male due to the colours is actually now holding. Therefore, I think it may be a female after all although the colouring is way too intense for it?

I have added pictures of both fish.

Any thoughts? Thanks for your help.

 

[Andy Sager]

If it's holding, it's the female. As for the coloring, that fish sure does look like it could be a male but from what I could find in my books, it's the yellow that is the more intense in males rather than all the colors. Add to that if these are domestically raised fish, color alterations could have occurred which is why the black is so intense on her.

Hope this helps.

 

[basantaj]

Thanks. Yeah, that’s what I also thought. It’s just that the colours were so vivid on her that I was convinced it was a male!

 

[Andy Sager]

Thanks. Yeah, that’s what I also thought. It’s just that the colours were so vivid on her that I was convinced it was a male!

Unfortunately, fish breeders have not always been the most responsible when trying to create new colors or enhancing a fish's colors so the only ones you can usually be on target with are wild caught fish. Case in point, I'm an Angelfish breeder. I've bred 100s of pairs of them. I was looking at this BEAUTIFUL Male Angel in a shop's display tank. It had the nuchal hump on the head ( a trait bred into the Angelfish), The proper body shape for a male and was being a bit gregarious towards the other fish in the tank ( a typical male behavior). I spoke to the store owner about buying the fish and I told him I needed a good male for a female who just lost her mate. I even offered him a good price above the price posted on his other tanks with fish for sale. He told me " I would love to sell you that fish, especially at that price, but he laid eggs about 10 day ago and I've been looking for a good male to put in with her as well. " So you see, it happens to the best of us.