How to tell if a firefish is male or female?

[suta4242]

Either people think this is a joke or no one know the answer

Firefish may be timid in their interactions with other fish, but not with each other IME. The question about sexing isn't easy to answer.

I don't think theres a clear visual differentiation between the sexes. But when I bought a Helfrichi pair two years ago the importer assured me he could differentiate between the fish. He said there were slight differences in markings but, try as I might, I could never differentiate between them. These fish were adults and always slept together, and never swam more than 6" away from each other. I have never seen aggression between them.

But I think its a different story if you buy sexually immature fish and put them together. This may work for a while - even a year, maybe longer. But then one day the aggression begins and a dominant fish can easily kill the other, eg by tearing the submissive one's mouth. In this situation even a big tank won't offer shelter to the loser - instead he'll be pursued until hes badly wounded / dead or has leapt to the floor.

Thats all people are trying to say... IMO no ones laughing at the OP's question - just warning you of what can go wrong if you end up with same sex fish.

HTH

 

[Apercula]

I am pretty sure that this was a spawning pair. I think the near one was female, she would develop an extended abdomen as in the picture, then would disappear into their burrow for days at a time. He would stand guard at the burrow entrance while she was in it. After a week or so of her not being out much at all she would suddenly be out as normal for a while till this behavior would restart. I never saw any eggs or fry, and I didn't see anything that would distinguish between them most of the time.

 

[snorvich]

Lol

Well it's only a 10 gallon do guess he'll be the only one in there

Well, they still like to jump, keep the top tightly covered.

 

[snorvich]

I don't under this forum. Because the subject is about determining the sex of firefish I can't begin to tell what the comments being posted. Either people think this is a joke or no one know the answer. I sure could have a good laugh at some comments posted on the site. If one doesn't know the answer why bother posting a comment. One can look for other sites for expert advice.

Actually, the implied question is whether the OP can have another firefish. Asked and answered. Some of the comments are intentionally funny, life is too short not to have humor.

 

[snorvich]

I am pretty sure that this was a spawning pair. I think the near one was female, she would develop an extended abdomen as in the picture, then would disappear into their burrow for days at a time. He would stand guard at the burrow entrance while she was in it. After a week or so of her not being out much at all she would suddenly be out as normal for a while till this behavior would restart. I never saw any eggs or fry, and I didn't see anything that would distinguish between them most of the time.

Nice picture! Yes, you are describing the spawning behavior of this species.

 

[Wolverine]

I don’t under this forum. Because the subject is about determining the sex of firefish I can’t begin to tell what the comments being posted. Either people think this is a joke or no one know the answer. I sure could have a good laugh at some comments posted on the site. If one doesn’t know the answer why bother posting a comment. One can look for other sites for expert advice.

Unfortunately, it looks like there isn't a way to visually determine sex in firefish:

http://www.marinebreeder.org/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=1655

The original question was answered in post four, with a link to a helpful thread at MB. After that, the discussion moved to whether or not they do well in groups when not a bonded pair, which is a fair and helpful diversion of the discussion.

 

[SDguy]

I am pretty sure that this was a spawning pair. I think the near one was female, she would develop an extended abdomen as in the picture, then would disappear into their burrow for days at a time. He would stand guard at the burrow entrance while she was in it. After a week or so of her not being out much at all she would suddenly be out as normal for a while till this behavior would restart. I never saw any eggs or fry, and I didn't see anything that would distinguish between them most of the time.

I love how close they are to each other in that pic. I think it speaks volumes to people asking if they have a male/female pair, that swim like 1ft apart

 

[Apercula]

This picture was taken just after the other one. She is peeking out of the burrow in the lower right corner, and he is on guard duty.

 

[JByer323]

It's funny, as I'm looking at stocking options for my first tank, I kept coming back to one of these guys, even though they are fairly "common".

After seeing that picture, it's clear they're anything but common. Cool shot!

 

[reret10]

there is no way

 

[reret10]

the 100th post

 

[The sea slug]

I know for me I had three at first, two kept bullying the smallest one and it jumped out and died but the other two are chill together, don't show any aggerssion towards each other or anything else.

 

[ThRoewer]

They can be sexed by the shape and size of their genital papilla. It's tricky but doable.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[ThRoewer]

Pair of Nemateleotris exquisita:
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lyTAgl3XgiU" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I sexed them by their genital papillae and they paired up right away. After 3 weeks they decided there wasn't enough room in the quarantine tank for other fish and before I realized what was going on they had killed all of the 4 Pseudochromis I had with them in quarantine. Something to keep in mind when keeping these little devils in pairs.

My pair of Yellow-head Helfrichi Firefish:
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rjW61B7lzJo" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Sexed by their genital papillae. Also paired up right away. These guys seem less murderous than the N. exquisita and so far have not harmed the Aurora goby I have with them in quarantine.

Picture of a female:

Pictures of males: