Moorish idol

[sTefaniA]

how can you tell male/female?

An experienced reefer told me they have different snout markings and slightly different body shape. Males should have a longer yellow triangle on their nose.
I don't know if this is true but I have paid attention to it and pairs always have different yellow marking on the nose, as in, one has a longer yellow triangle and the other doesnt.

I searched some pics on the net and here you can see the upper one having a longer yellow marking

Offcourse this is not a proven feature and could be a complete coincidence

 

[ltljoker]

how can you tell male/female?

I can't tell, and would have no idea how one does. But the guy at Bluezoo assured me he could tell and would send me one of each. I am hoping this will be a succsefull attempt

 

[Angel*Fish]

Check these threads out....set some time aside to read them through well:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=993712

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=607477

I agree.

 

[ltljoker]

I have read those threads, thats where I got the info that mated pairs do better. I have sucked up all the knowledge from this forum I could find:thumbsup:

 

[RealReef7]

i can tell you from past experience, many trial and error, unless you know exactly what you are doing, don't even think about purchasing one.

 

[John Dawe]

how can you tell male/female?

how can you tell male/female?

EASY if the fish is a big adult. Per Dr John Randall, the males have bigger "nubin", that is 'horns' above the eyes. If you look at enough photos you can see it. Two weeks ago in Hawaii, I saw mostly big males and small female pairs. Another reason to by fish books, they have a lot of details on how to sex fish that's not on the net.