Eliza - females or not?

[iddt]

Hi,

I bought them yesterday and I was told they are females. After few hours in my tank they look more like males to me because of these red bellies. Can someone confirm my guess? What they actually are?

fish1

fish2

regards
Ryszard

 

[Mike Wise]

The fish are rather young. Based only on shape, fish 2 looks like a female. It does not show black on the ventral fins that I expect to see on a female, however. Still, it belongs to a group of apistos in which the females often show very little black on the ventrals. Fish 1 I am not sure what sex it is. I would guess from the photo that it is a young male. The red color is probably due to heavy feeding with brine shrimp and/or cyclops. Even females can show some red.

 

[KenL]

Mike,

What difference did you see between 1 & 2 to differentiate male from female?

I "guessed" both were more likely to be female. I've never kept A.eliz' so no real personal experience - just a hunch.

Ken.

 

[Mike Wise]

Fish 2 appears to be shorter and deeper-bodied, like a female. The other fish is more elongated and the front dorsal fin spines show hints of growing longer.

 

[blueblue]

Fish 2 appears to be shorter and deeper-bodied, like a female. The other fish is more elongated and the front dorsal fin spines show hints of growing longer.

Plus, the shape of the caudal fin tells us that the first one is very likely to be a male. ^.^

 

[iddt]

I counted on your opinion blueblue:wink:
It is exactly what I suspected, probably I bought 3+1 instead of 2+2

Thank you all for your tips

cheers
Ryszard

 

[blueblue]

I counted on your opinion blueblue:wink:
It is exactly what I suspected, probably I bought 3+1 instead of 2+2

Thank you all for your tips

cheers
Ryszard

You're welcome. Do keep us up-to-date on your eliza.