Male or female gourami?

[Danieow]

I've recently bought the below gourgeous Sky Blue Dwarf Gourami. The tank was labeled "males" but the one I brought home with me has a very feminine shape. I put him/her in the tank expecting to see the males go nuts but they don't react any differently. So I am guessing this one is a boy, but I can't be postive since the coloration is so light (plus body shape). If it is indeed a female I'll move her to my new 20 gallon when it is done cycling (which won't take much longer).

Please let me know what you think this gourami looks like, (boy/girl?).

Danie

P.S. Sorry for the blurry pic, it was the best I could get, this little one doesn't like the flash.

 

[Annastasia]

If it's the color it is in the picture, I'd say male. I agree it has a more feminine shape...but that coloring says male. Females usually have a more silvery color, and not nearly as bright or flashy.

It looks very fat though...does it have dropsy, or is it bloated? Or just a full little guy?

 

[black angel]

looks like a female to me, got rounded fins and a full belly. maybe a better pic would help.

 

[Danieow]

Nope no Dropsy or any sickness or disease as far as I can tell. This one is the most active guy in the tank and has a big personality. He's smaller by half next to my other Dwarfs but eats much more food then they do since he/she's the first to the top of the tank @ feeding time. He's probably just a little fat, I agree about the color, I just thought it safest to check since some neon blue dwarf females have more coloration than normal female dwarfs. Below is another photo but not much better in quality, the lighting in this tank is very low.

 

[black angel]

I would still say its a female.

 

[Danieow]

If it is a female then she has awesome coloration. If they still have them @ the store I'll go back and get some more of these females to put in the 20 gal. I'm still hoping to hear from a few more of you. I really can't decide the sex, but I am leaning towards female, it just looks to different from my other males.

 

[sylvia]

The color and shape look like a female in those pictures but it is longer than you would expect - at least it appears so in the second pic.

Do you think you could maybe get a picture that's brighter so you can see the fins clearly and take it so that the fish is not at an angle so the length is obvious?

Sorry but it's difficult with pictures

If it's only a young fish though, it may still turn out brighter and develop longer fins. How big is it?

Make sure it isn't bloated. Maybe feed some peas or fast for a day.

 

[Danieow]

Ok I've got a slightly better picture today. You can see the fins much better in this one. Also I don't think the fish is bloated, the hardly ate yesterday and it looks the same.

 

[Squishiebabe]

Here is mine, and he is male...I'd say male, just cuz he looks like mine, and colours as well...Mine al.so has these little feeler thingys, do all gouramis have them?

http/i19.photobucket.com/albums/b192/blo...hie/fishhii.jpg

 

[sylvia]

This is realy confusing How big is it? I'm thinking it's just a younger male because females don't normaly have the red-rimmed fins. But the shape is making me think female. Each of those pictures gives a different impression . Bloating, BTW, isn't only caused by over-eating. You should be careful if it isn't eating as that would suggest he has an internal bacterial infection - especialy with dwarf gouramies that are prone to them. I'm not saying you should jump right in and treat - but be vigilant and watch him closely.

BTW, I'm settling for male.

Also, the elongated, thread-like ventral fins are apparent in most gouramies but not all. Dwarfs, banded, honeys, three-spots and all others in the trichogaster and colisa genus have them, as do the large 'true' osphronemus species, sphaerichthys species like the chocolate, trichopsis species; and most betta species (to an extent) also have elongated ventrals. On the other hand, kissing gouramies, ctenopomas, paradisfish and 'perch' don't realy have them. It depends on the species basically but most of the common species except the kisser do have them.