sexting A Macmasteri

[chris1805]

Hey guys today i bought 2 wild caught A Macmasteri which were sold as a pair to me. When i bought them in the store it looked like the small one had some red in his tail. Now i am at home they actually both look like females to me. From the one in front which is also the bigger one i am sure it's a female, she has a lot of black in her ventral fins. The one behind the small one is the one from which i thought he had some red in his tail which i can not see anymore. I also think he has some black in his ventral fins this is why i believe he might be a female. They are both still pretty young and small so maybe they are just simply to small to sex.

 

[Mike Wise]

Yes, you're right. They are too young to sex. Mac are sexually dimorphic when mature, so easy to sex.

 

[chris1805]

Now after 1.5 week they coloured up a bit and the red is back, also the fins of the smaller one started to develop a bit more and showing some male signs. Guess you can say now i got 1 male for sure. I think the other is a female but still not sure.

 

[chris1805]

After almost a month they coloured up really well. I really like the fact that my male is getting red at the end of the his backfin. Does someone know if this is normal for a wild macmasteri?
Also got a little video for you guys which was made about a week ago when my female agassizii still had fry in there. Just to show you the tank mates they share their

life with

 

[Mike Wise]

There are several known color variants known in the wild. They range from the very colorful 'Red-shoulder Mac/Rotrücken' (A121) to the more plain Yellow morph (A120). Red is uncommon on the dorsal tip but not really unusual either. Food probably plays some part in the amount of red.