Is this a sneaker male Apistogramma cacatuoides?

[Don90]

Wah piang! i think this is really a sneaker male!

Reasons why I believe so.

1) It doesn't turn yellow.

2) has little "shiny scales" on its face

3) has more "slender" body compared to my female. My female has a more short/stout/compact body.

[joopsg]

Hard to judge. Can provide a better picture?

[illumnae]

would be best to provide a full side picture. none of the reasons you've listed so far mean that you've got a male.

1. not yellow simply means not ready to breed at the moment
2. females often show irridiscent markings on the face
3. usually my females are the ones slimmer than the males except when they're full of eggs, which would relate to point 1 whereby it's slim because it's not ready to breed at the moment.

[Don90]

OK, forget 2 and 3. But the thing is, this apisto has been around for quite some time now. (about 1 month) And it doesn't turn yellow!

And it flares at my other female in the tank while the male is away!

[illumnae]

still not conclusive. apistos aren't breeding machines...if the female doesn't want to breed, it can be 1 month or 1 year and she still may not turn yellow.

[Don90]

still not conclusive. apistos aren't breeding machines...if the female doesn't want to breed, it can be 1 month or 1 year and she still may not turn yellow.

more pics.





This pic is the reason why I think its a male.



seems like it doesn't have black ventrals.

[Zenislev]

I hate all these sneaker male nonsense. Wonder why nowadays so many of these sneaker males appearing. So many cases of inbreeding or what...

[leeruisheng]

Hard to tell but it does looked like female to me.

Some species do exhibit sneaker characteristic, when being a prey, triggers this mechanism in act of self defence. But anyway, these triple red or orange flash are man made.

OT. In marine, clownfish aka nemo, when the female in a family dies, the alpha male will become a female.

[trident]

looks like a sneaker male to me.
I owned 2 of them before!

[doppelbanddwarf]

Sneaker males may not be a result of inbreeding, rather it could be a natural phenomenon. It could be a way with which weaker males protect themselves from the dominant ones, by pretending to be a female. I don't think Apistogrammas change sex. Rather it is more likely that once the dominant male is gone, the less dominant ones can take over the dominant positions and show their true selves.

[trident]

agree with chongyu, I bought a pair and the sneaker looks and behave like a female. But once removed from the male, the sneaker start to develop into a full fledge male, with all the markings, but color a bit washed out.

[genes]

Exactly limchongyu
So its common to get 2 pieces of males as a result especially when they are young with their fins not fully developed yet like your fishes.

Its only when the females are ready to breed that they turn yellow. If not, they remain the colour as seen in your pictures. Female Ap. cacatuoides can have patterns on their finnages as well. The best way to comfirm is to remove this "sneaker male" and let it settle down in a tank of his own.

[minidevil]

any male caca in your tank? look female to me. maybe just not in the breeding mood.

[mobile2007]

Can i confirm that only the female will have black ventral fin ? Is that such thing as sneaker female ? How about this one, you all think this is male or female ?

[lyh]

Hi all I have the same question as mobile2007 as well. I have a few pieces that at times, they have this black streak on their ventral fins but sometimes it just disappear. I'm really confused by them So do sneaker males exhibit this black ventral fin thing?

[FishSoup]

Yes they do, sometimes. If the black streak disappears then it might be a male.. do the ventral fins have a bluish sheen when the black disappears?

Best way to confirm the sex is to put the fish in question into a separate tank for a couple of weeks.. if its a male, the male characteristics will begin to show a lot more strongly.

[illumnae]

do note that females don't always have the black ventral streak. i've seen them disappear on my fish sometimes only to have them appear again later. for apistogramma cacatuoides, one way to differentiate a sneaker male is by looking very closely at the dark streak on the ventrals. on sneakers, sometimes/usually it's a very dark blue instead of black. for females it will always be black

[lyh]

Yes they do, sometimes. If the black streak disappears then it might be a male.. do the ventral fins have a bluish sheen when the black disappears?

Best way to confirm the sex is to put the fish in question into a separate tank for a couple of weeks.. if its a male, the male characteristics will begin to show a lot more strongly.

do note that females don't always have the black ventral streak. i've seen them disappear on my fish sometimes only to have them appear again later. for apistogramma cacatuoides, one way to differentiate a sneaker male is by looking very closely at the dark streak on the ventrals. on sneakers, sometimes/usually it's a very dark blue instead of black. for females it will always be black

Thanks for all your explanation. These guys are really getting me confused