Leopard Gouramis
- Thread starter leighann
- Start date
Darkehorse
Fish Fanatic
I just bought one from my local PetSmart. If you have one in your area, check there.
-Darke
Darkehorse
Fish Fanatic
ahh I just saw your other thread and I hadn't noticed the gender request. Sorry I do not know. I wasn't even aware that they could be easily sexed.
-Darke
Leopard Gourami??? Now THAT is a new common name for Ctenopoma acutirostre that I've never heard before. I do hate common names! 
It is very difficult to determine the sex of Ctenopoma species, even as adults. Both genders have spiny patches behind the eye and at the base of the tail (not to be confused with the spines that occasionally extend back from the edge of the gill cover) but the spines of the males are generally longer. It is nearly impossible to check this without immobilizing the fish and examining it with a good quality magnifying glass. Even then, on immature specimens the difference isn't very pronounced so it is easy to make a mistake. Male Ctenopoma acutirostre are no more nor less spotted than the females. The pattern is strictly an individual thing with these fish so trying to use that character for gender determination won't work. I seriously doubt if anybody at PetSmart or any of the other 'chain' pet stores would have the time or the knowledge to try to figure out the sex of the "Leopard Gouramis" that they're selling (btw...the only time I've seen these at PetSmart they were calling them "African Spotted Leaf Fish"...which they're NOT).
-Joe
It is very difficult to determine the sex of Ctenopoma species, even as adults. Both genders have spiny patches behind the eye and at the base of the tail (not to be confused with the spines that occasionally extend back from the edge of the gill cover) but the spines of the males are generally longer. It is nearly impossible to check this without immobilizing the fish and examining it with a good quality magnifying glass. Even then, on immature specimens the difference isn't very pronounced so it is easy to make a mistake. Male Ctenopoma acutirostre are no more nor less spotted than the females. The pattern is strictly an individual thing with these fish so trying to use that character for gender determination won't work. I seriously doubt if anybody at PetSmart or any of the other 'chain' pet stores would have the time or the knowledge to try to figure out the sex of the "Leopard Gouramis" that they're selling (btw...the only time I've seen these at PetSmart they were calling them "African Spotted Leaf Fish"...which they're NOT).
-Joe
Fate2006
Fish Addict
uhh it was just explained how to sex them easily...
If you've got a place near you called Big Als aqurium store, you should try them... like 60% of the time when I'm looking for a fish that my other LFS's won't have they do... plus if your on a good basis with them they'll sometimes order in a spieces for you...
If you've got a place near you called Big Als aqurium store, you should try them... like 60% of the time when I'm looking for a fish that my other LFS's won't have they do... plus if your on a good basis with them they'll sometimes order in a spieces for you...
Fate2006....there IS no way to sex them easily. That was my point. Most people don't want to drag their fish out of the aquarium, hold them down, and go over them with a magnifying lens. On another level though, I'm sure there are a whole lot of smaller fish out there that are very happy that Ctenopoma acutirostre isn't as easy to breed as a guppy!
-Joe
-Joe
leighann...
There are a number of places that occasionally get in Ctenopoma acutirostre and there was that big 'burst' of them showing up in the large U.S. chain pet stores last year. Don't take PetSmart's identification of your C. acutirostre as a male very seriously. They have no earthly idea what gender that fish is. One place that I've always had success getting various species of Ctenopoma and Microctenopoma on-line is at www.rehobothaquatics.com . This fellow gets all sorts of imports directly from Africa and his fish are usually of very high quality and his shipping, at least in my experience, is exceptional. Of course, the caveat with getting fish on-line is that you end up paying considerable shipping costs.
-Joe
There are a number of places that occasionally get in Ctenopoma acutirostre and there was that big 'burst' of them showing up in the large U.S. chain pet stores last year. Don't take PetSmart's identification of your C. acutirostre as a male very seriously. They have no earthly idea what gender that fish is. One place that I've always had success getting various species of Ctenopoma and Microctenopoma on-line is at www.rehobothaquatics.com . This fellow gets all sorts of imports directly from Africa and his fish are usually of very high quality and his shipping, at least in my experience, is exceptional. Of course, the caveat with getting fish on-line is that you end up paying considerable shipping costs.
-Joe
Similar threads
Most reactions
-
517 -
301 -
264 -
237 -
230 -
184 -
180 -
150 -
150 -
145 -
86 -
85 -
76 -
72 -
67