What sex is this jewel cichlid?

[yellowstitch123]

Sorry that the pictures aren't great, I was just wondering if anyone could help me with sexing this jewel. It is about 2.5 - 3 inches for reference, so only small.

 

[Alice B]

if it goes bright red after the male was removed it might be a male. Less dominant males will hide their color. but I am not sure, it's been 15 years since I kept Jewels.

 

[yellowstitch123]

if it goes bright red after the male was removed it might be a male. Less dominant males will hide their color. but I am not sure, it's been 15 years since I kept Jewels.

It has started colouring up after my male was removed so I am now thinking that it is also male...ugh. I asked the shop for two females and may have got two males. Fins are now a lot brighter and the colouring on the body has deepened slightly.
Still no change in behaviour though.

 

[yellowstitch123]

Apologies to moderators, I probably could have added this to my original jewel cichlid thread after the chocolate cichlid incident.

 

[emeraldking]

The way it looks right now, goes to a female (based on the tip of its fins). But it could also be a young male that needs to color up more and develop pointy edged dorsal and anal fins.

 

[GaryE]

Young jewels are notoriously hard to sex with 100% accuracy. Any shop that says it can do so is simply trying to please the customer, then crossing their fingers they were randomly right.

As I mentioned in the other thread, I've bred several of the species sold as jewels, and I've paid attention to the group for 25 years. When I saw your post here, I ducked. There's a 50/50 chance I'd be right if I guessed. I would say female most likely. To begin, your other male didn't kill it, and it has enough size that he would have known what he was looking at.

 

[yellowstitch123]

Young jewels are notoriously hard to sex with 100% accuracy. Any shop that says it can do so is simply trying to please the customer, then crossing their fingers they were randomly right.

As I mentioned in the other thread, I've bred several of the species sold as jewels, and I've paid attention to the group for 25 years. When I saw your post here, I ducked. There's a 50/50 chance I'd be right if I guessed. I would say female most likely. To begin, your other male didn't kill it, and it has enough size that he would have known what he was looking at.

Thanks this is really helpful, good point about the other male not killing it.
I'm watching him/her now and it is totally different in behaviour to the other one. Stays out of everything else, including the bristlenose plecos. Quite a shy little fish for a jewel. At least, compared to the last one!

 

[yellowstitch123]

The way it looks right now, goes to a female (based on the tip of its fins). But it could also be a young male that needs to color up more and develop pointy edged dorsal and anal fins.

Keeping my fingers crossed for a female that continues to be reasonably reserved.

 

[emeraldking]

Keeping my fingers crossed for a female that continues to be reasonably reserved.

It's like Gary has already stated: it's hard to tell when the specimen is still young. For young males will look like females first. So yes, fingers crossed...!

 

[Alice B]

even if it turned out to be male, I think you'd have a couple weeks before the testosterone overload hit. I think it's a female because of the other jewel not messing with it. I seem to remember at mating time both male and female were bright red but it has been a very long time and my memory is not clear on that

 

[yellowstitch123]

even if it turned out to be male, I think you'd have a couple weeks before the testosterone overload hit. I think it's a female because of the other jewel not messing with it. I seem to remember at mating time both male and female were bright red but it has been a very long time and my memory is not clear on that

Makes sense.

The other one would chase it from time to time, but not harass it, and never so much as nipped a fin.

 

[GaryE]

My pairs of Hemichromis guttatus and H lifallili were both equally red when spawning. They both had their warning lights on for other fish. You'll notice that my guess she's a she isn't from appearance but from behaviour From looking at them it's extremely difficult to tell what species they are, let alone their sex.

You will probably have been told you have H bimaculatus. It's a fish that may or may not ever have been in the hobby, and that is extreme in its rarity even if it's in captivity. You probably have H. guttatus..

If I were in a pet store and someone wanted a pair, I'd guess by females being smaller. That only works if the fish in the tank are the same age....