Is this a male A. cacatuoides?

[curviceps]

Hello

I bought this cac thinking it was a male, being the most colourful in a tank of mostly females. Now I'm not so sure - the pelvic fin seems quite dark (at times) and the body does seem quite yellow, although not as yellow as the other females from the same source. When first introduced into the tank, it was quite noticeably grey.

It is still quite young, perhaps 1.5 to 2 inches long.

Please have a look at the pics - what do you think? Male or female?

 

[wickedglass]

no pic here ???

 

[Lisachromis]

He posted the wrong links

 

[Mike Wise]

It looks like it has red tips on the 2nd & 3rd dorsal spines, which show some elongation. I think that it is a male.

 

[JG]

Looks male to me.

 

[curviceps]

Thanks all. Apologies regarding the links, worked from my computer, but obviously not for everyone else.

After posting these pics, I also heard some rumours that this particular LFS (not in the USA, by the way) feeds "White Crane" food with contains PSB, and apparently causes females to colour up like males (which is temporary and should go away after this food is no longer fed) and could make them sterile or less likely to spawn.

Oh well...

Has anyone heard about this type of food? Sounds like this type of food should not be allowed to be sold.

 

[element]

now that you mention it maybe it is female. check out the black edging on those stubby little ventral fins.

 

[curviceps]

yeah, that's what got me suspicious in the first place (i mentioned in my original post on this subject that the pelvic - or ventral - fins seemed a bit black).

anyway, so i may have got myself a strange one

 

[Griz]

I had a female that began to look more and more like a male as she aged. At around 2 1/2 years old I think she could have fooled many people into thinking she was a male. She had red colouration on her caudal dorsal and anal fins and even prominent red tips on the dorsal rays. Unfortunately I never got a really good pic of her but she did bear some similarity to your fish. Althought I would guess that your fish is a male, I wouldn't be too certain.

 

[Mike Wise]

Since this fish is still quite young & small, it still has some juvenile characteristics - like black on the ventral fins. Griz's female was fairly old had reached the equivalent of menopause in fish, where the female takes on some masculine traits. These are 2 different effects. Give the fish about 2 months. If it doesn't develop extended dorsal fin lappets by then, then it probably is a female!

 

[Griz]

You're quite right Mike. I just reread the original post and I should have seen that this was a young fish. Thanks for clearing that up.