How to sex a Bicolor Blenny?

[Spiffyguy]

Anyone know how to sex a Bicolor Blenny. I am thinking about getting a 2nd one for mine but I want to get a mate. Mine is a bit shy so it makes it hard to make out details. He does have a black dot on the front part of the fin that start just behind his head, I assume this is the dorsal fin. Not sure since it goes all the way down the back. He has standard colors, dark blue in the front, orange in the back.

Any ideas?

 

[hgbarwick]

Not sure about the black dot. Is yours mostly purple? Males have a little bit of yellow if any at all.

 

[Spiffyguy]

well it seems to be the dark blue/purple in the front and orange in the back half. Right near the tail area where it fans out there is a bit of yellow.

 

[hgbarwick]

If she is half and half then she is a female.

 

[Angel*Fish]

hgbarwick.
so since mine has very little yellow - just a bit on the tail tip... that means it's a male?? If I add a female will they coexist? That would be fabulous!

 

[hgbarwick]

They might. I havn't tried to breed them. My book says they will. I have a single male so it is worth a try.

 

[Spiffyguy]

oh so males have very little color at the end of the tail. Mainly all blue then? That would be excellent to find a male then. I have a pair of clowns in the tank that are getting friendly. Would love to try and breed them.

 

[Cubman777]

Re: How to sex a Bicolor Blenny?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7871235#post7871235 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Spiffyguy
Anyone know how to sex a Bicolor Blenny.

Any ideas?

Have you tried a little booze? That always seems to help when it comes to sexin. :bum:

 

[Spiffyguy]

Yeah I tried a bit of wine. Problem is they can't open the bottles with their little fins. Also once they do get open the fish get all rowdy and ended up crashing the skimmer into a tree.

 

[Angel*Fish]

hgbarwick - which book are you referring to?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7876951#post7876951 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Spiffyguy
Yeah I tried a bit of wine. Problem is they can't open the bottles with their little fins. Also once they do get open the fish get all rowdy and ended up crashing the skimmer into a tree.

:lol: :lol: :lol:
If you try this, first check with your insurance co.-- I found out the hard way that my skimmer was not covered for male blennies under 25 ;(

 

[Spiffyguy]

lol well it seems my blenny is a female. her insurance is quite a bit lower, but she had to get a used 4 door skimmer that was not considered a sports skimmer in order to get the lower rate.

 

[Angel*Fish]

Yeah, there are definitely some disadvantages to having a Deltec

I called TBS and they said it's appropriate to literally laugh out loud at your post.

 

[hgbarwick]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7877022#post7877022 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Angel*Fish
hgbarwick - which book are you referring to?


:lol: :lol: :lol:
If you try this, first check with your insurance co.-- I found out the hard way that my skimmer was not covered for male blennies under 25 ;(

I am referring to Marine Fishes by Scott W. Michael.

 

[Amphiprion]

The varying phases of E. bicolor have nothing to do with its sex. Check this article:Combtooth blennies

 

[Spiffyguy]

Funky link. Here is the correct one. Not to up on my biology of all the exact fish parts. I need to take a look at some pics an dsee if I can't tell the size of parts compared to other blennies. Maybe that is a godo place to start.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-07/hcs3/index.php

 

[Amphiprion]

Oops, yes that is the correct article and the one I meant to post.