Sexing of 3-line Pencils

[Osprey]

Dear all, I have 3 3-line pencils but only one of them have red dots near the tail. Is it the only male while the others are female pencils?

[theodore]

Coloration is 1 possibility but there r a few variants of 3-line pencils in the market (most of the so-called 3-line pencils r actually dwarf pencils anyway). Another way is to condition them with frozen bloodworms. Like most characins, pencilfish males should be considerably slimmer than the females when they r in mood for love

Intense coloration can be observed on the males when they r ready to mate ... But then again, they will exhibit the same intense coloration when they rough it out with other males (what gay fishes).

Side note : U may wanna house them in a separate tank if u r trying to breed them. Pencilfishes are known to eat their own eggs and frys.

[benny]

Females are usualy quite plump.

[Osprey]

Hi theo2001,

I certainly have no intention to breed them. Posting this cos I am curious. But then, stumble across another thread in this forum and saw the posting from benny, listing the different variants of pencils. His posting made me wonder whether the 2 without red dots on the tail are actually dwarf pencils. Hmm, if should that be the case, can I go back to the LFS to ask for exchange? Cos what I want are the 3-line pencils.

[benny]

What you have may be a combination of dwarf pencilfish (no red marks near the caudal fins) and dwarf pencilfish var Rio Negro (with red marks). The market seems to be flooded with them in the last 6 months. I doubt the shop will let you change it. Besides, most shops don't have the 3 line pencil. The real 3 line pencil are much slimer in profile compared to the dwarf pencilfish.

Cheers,

[theodore]

2 red dots on the tail is not a 100% accurate way to distinguish btw 3-line and dwarf. Check this out :

http://www.hippocampus-bildarchiv.de..._of_items.html

I prefer dwarf pencil over 3-line cos they stay small (it's a big deal if u have a 2ft tank) and schools more often (timid). I dun blame the LFSs for mixing up the names - they look way too similar.

[Osprey]

Hi benny, thanks for the info. So in your opinion, should there be any price difference between these species? If they are selling cheaper dwarf pencils passing off as 3-lines, they would be cheating!!!

[benny]

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On 3/10/2003 5:32:10 PM

Hi benny, thanks for the info. So in your opinion, should there be any price difference between these species? If they are selling cheaper dwarf pencils passing off as 3-lines, they would be cheating!!!
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Both species are about S$2 to S$6.50 each (both locally and overseas), depending where you buy them. Average price would be S$3 - S$3.50 at most LFS. Each species have their own desirable characteristics and can compliment each other in larger setups. Some prefer the 3 line pencil because of the electric blue tint on their lower fins when conditioned properly. Others prefer the dwarf pencil because of their minute size and bold character for a small fish.

Anyway, I was at home when one of our fellow forumer visited me just now and witnessed a pair of 3 line pencil trying to mate in my tank. A most interesting display that lasted about 10 mins. However, they are not know the spawn in captivity easily and with my fish load, I doubt anything will come out of it.

Enjoy your pencilfishes!

Cheers,