hawkfish coloration

[Nina51]

as you can see, the smaller one has much darker coloration. i wonder if this will change as it gets older. of all the longnose hawkfish i have seen, i've never seen one so dark. he's growing really fast, has almost caught up to the first one! i also wonder, could one be male and one be female or does coloration have anything to do with that?
<a href="http://s6.photobucket.com/user/Ninapearl/media/TANK/2hawkfish_zps52dd5464.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y203/Ninapearl/TANK/2hawkfish_zps52dd5464.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 2hawkfish_zps52dd5464.jpg"/></a>

<a href="http://s6.photobucket.com/user/Ninapearl/media/TANK/2hawkfish1_zps900252b1.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y203/Ninapearl/TANK/2hawkfish1_zps900252b1.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 2hawkfish1_zps900252b1.jpg"/></a>

 

[snorvich]

Interesting picture which clearly shows the contrast. Does anyone know how to sex them?

 

[Moort82]

I've never heard they are sexually dichromatic and the only real way to sex them is through size. That's interesting they are very different in colouration, my pair and those I've seen, shown no such difference.

 

[snorvich]

By the way, the color on the one (right side) is the color I am accustomed to seeing (in the wild and in aquaria) but I have never seen the coloration on the left side one.

 

[Nina51]

same for me, peter. until i actually got him into the tank, i didn't really think about there even being a difference in color but as soon as i saw them side by side, it was really obvious.

remember a few weeks ago, we had the discussion in another hawkfish thread about how to sex them? all i could find was this (in quotes)...

"The male fish it typically larger than the female and more colourful. It is also common for males to have black margins on their pelvic and caudal fins."

i have tried to look for black margins but i'm tellin' ya, when i go anywhere near the tank, all of my fish dance and they just won't be still long enough for me to get a good look. in fact, those pictures ^ were taken from about 15' away with a telephoto lens on a mediocre camera. that's why they aren't very clear.

 

[Moort82]

I never noticed any difference what so ever in colouration. they were both as bright and beautiful as each other, as have the other pairs I've seen. I also didn't notice any difference in the fins at all and they were spawning (one jumped whilst doing so I think).

I'd guess if there was to be a change in the fin colour that it would develop overtime. Yours might not have even taken their gender roles, so you might see a change.