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Thread: Sexing Apistogramma cacatuoides

  1. #1
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    Sexing Apistogramma cacatuoides

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    Recently, Ap. cacatuoides have been spotted in our LFS. Some of very good quality at affordable prices. An excellent chance for beginners to start venturing into apistos since Ap. cacatuoides is robust and can adapt to changes in water chemistry, from soft to hard. For beginners who wants to try their hand at breeding apistogrammas, they also reproduces readily.

    However, do check on the pairs to make sure that you are indeed buying a pair (male and female) rather then 2 males. It seems like some of the pairs sold are actually 2 males. With the smaller one being a "sneaker" male. A "sneaker" male refers to a male that poses as a female.

    Here are some pictures and tips to differentiate the males and females

    MALE
    1) Caudal (tail) fin is lyrate in mature specimens.
    2) Dorsal (top) fin of males have long membranes, typically from the
    2nd to 8th spines.
    3) Size is bigger then female






    FEMALE
    1) Caudal fin is round or just slightly truncate
    2) Dorsal fin tips are short
    3) When ready/during breeding, female is yellow in colour.
    4) Ventral fin is black especially during breeding.
    5) Size is smaller then males.

    Last edited by genes; 12th Apr 2009 at 18:48.
    Eugene (^_^)
    De Dwergcichlide Fanatiek
    Now swimming: Plecos and Apistogrammas

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    Very clear and easy to understand post eugene
    On behalf of all the apisto newbies, thank you for posting this nugget of info up for us! it's very kind of you to post up an id thread for those newly coming into the hobby so we can learn from the pros =)

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    Good write-up with clear pictures.....it'll be good to put it up as sticky for easier referencing for everyone

    Eugene
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    Eugene,
    I got this female cacatuoides, looks different from the female you post.
    Can help to see if it's a (hopefully not) sneaker male?
    Thanks
    Richard
    Last edited by trident; 28th Oct 2007 at 15:32.

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    I would see it more as a young male...the first few membranes of the dorsal are pretty much extended which resembles a male....black on ventrals are not as intense as it is on a female....

    Give it a bit more time to grow out in order to sex it out more accurately
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    Dorsal menbrane and lyrate tail is showing its a male. Black ventrals only becomes prominant in females when they are in breeding mood. Your female does not look like she's in her breeding colouration. I believe the ventrals are not truely black but with bluish tint on them. See the male photo i posted.
    Last edited by genes; 11th Jul 2007 at 23:00.
    Eugene (^_^)
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    Now swimming: Plecos and Apistogrammas

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    Eman, Eugene,
    I suspected it might be a sneaker male. Thanks for the confirmation.
    Richard

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    Genes,

    Very good write up for begininers!! Clear and concise.

    I have seen quite a lot of Apistogramma cacatuoides sold as pairs in the shops recently. Very nice specimens too. Unfortunately, out of 4 pairs that I inspected, all 4 pairs were actually 2 X male pairs. Same for the Taenicara candidi and Apistogramma bitaeniata on sale recently.

    As such, for begininers hoping to start out with a breeding pair, they might just end up with a fighting pair with the larger fish eventually killing the smaller one. Richard's fish is one good example. Do take note when selecting your fishes and make your preference for a pair known to the shop. If you are not sure and want to determine the status of the 'female', you can also separate the pair in different tanks (no line of sight please). Putting a mirror in front of the "female" fish and it will eventually exhibit male behaviour in the absence of the larger male.

    Cheers,
    I have dwarf cichlids in my tanks! Do you?

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    trident,

    The picture posted is a male. Late maturing or what it's termed here "sneaker male".

    Some of my observation of Taeniacara candidi very interesting. Just recently raising a few broods. In the presence of a dominant male, the sneaker males will not mature and stays about the same size of the female and the development of the spade tail shape was somehow deferred as well. This was rather perplexing at first because the ratio was like 1 male to 10 females. So I decided to remove the dominant male just to confirm the sex ratio. In the end, the sneaker males slowly matured giving me an even ratio at the end. It was a rather interesting observation for me.

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    Hi,

    Got 1 more photo of the sneaker male, much clearer this time, hope everyone can have a good look.



    richard
    Last edited by benny; 14th Jul 2007 at 11:31. Reason: Fix image link

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    Hi Richard,

    I've upload your photo into your personal gallery in AQ. This way, it shows up much bigger and earlier for others to view.

    From the photo and judging from the dorsal and caudal fins, it's obviously a male. However, it's interesting to note that non dominant male can assume certain characteristics of the female, such as the yellow coloration and the dark (but not completely black) ventral fins. This helps them to hang around without getting "bashed" to death by the other dorminant male.

    Cheers,
    I have dwarf cichlids in my tanks! Do you?

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    I would like also to add on that it seems that other species of sneaker males also exhibit the dark colouration on the ventrals. I have seen my A.agassizii having very dark ventrals and rounded caudal and dorsal fins turning out to be a male after 6 months of keeping them.
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    thanks alot eugene for this sticky. this is indeed very very helpful to all apisto keepers.
    -clint- ~apisto keepers unite!~

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    Benny,
    Thanks. I guess it's survival instinct. I am planning on getting 2 females, one for each male and it would be interesting to see if the sneaker male can turn into a normal looking male.

    Richard

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    A sneaker male that i got from the last pair i had purchased.

    died on me.. poor guy
    If I were a fish, I'd BREED all Day!

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    Any shop recomendation that sell real/warranty pair?
    -Robert
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    got a liking for cacatoides long ago .. but till now have not get my hands on any...

    now know how to differentiate male and female, maybe will go and look see look see to find if there is any cheap cacatoides on sale ..

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    You can check out Biotope or C328 for them. They have pretty nice Ap. cacatuoides recently.
    Eugene (^_^)
    De Dwergcichlide Fanatiek
    Now swimming: Plecos and Apistogrammas

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    Update on the sneaker male

    Hi,
    It's been a while and here's an update photo of the sneaker male.
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by trident; 23rd Nov 2007 at 22:35.
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    wow check out the long dorsal extension and very long lyraete tail! this fish is very male indeed

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