Sexing Dunckerocampus dactyliophorus
- Thread starter Luis A M
- Start date
Luis A M
Premium Member
Well,I searched the few threads on this banded pipefish,and it seems there is no way to tell,other than when they´re breeding,of course!
But my two fish swim together and get along,this might be a good sign.
These fish are taking Hikari mysis short after being released in my tank,amazing how easy they slurp them in with these narrow snouts!
But curiously,they ignore live adult bs completely! :eek1:
I have a pair in a 30 gallon cube they took about a week to learn to eat frozen. They learned from watching the seahorse in their tank I think. I believe mine are a pair because they hang together most of the time.
One is larger and has a body that looks square, at least on the top. I believe this one is the female. Just a guess at this point. The smaller one is more rounded looking. I have only had them for a couple of months now so they have not bred for me yet.
They are much less delicate than they look. Pretty hardy actually.
Bruce
One is larger and has a body that looks square, at least on the top. I believe this one is the female. Just a guess at this point. The smaller one is more rounded looking. I have only had them for a couple of months now so they have not bred for me yet.
They are much less delicate than they look. Pretty hardy actually.
Bruce
danfrith
Active member
I think you probably have a pair if there is no fighting, and they are swimming together. Also I think the genus name is Doryrhamphus, and in most doryrhamphus species the males fight to the death. You can usually distinguish the difference in gender by looknig at the under side of the fish, Males have a hallowed out underside which is there pouch. After they start breeding regularly they do it about once every 10 days.
Good luck.
Also a varied diet helps to keep them in prime breeding condition.
Good luck.
Also a varied diet helps to keep them in prime breeding condition.
Well the pipes just shot down my theory. The larger one is the male! I just saw that he was carring three red eggs. I don't know if they were not done mating or that was all that stuck or some have hatched. At any rate if they mated once they can do it again.
There is a large size difference between the sexes so I don't know yet if this holds true with all pairs.
Bruce
There is a large size difference between the sexes so I don't know yet if this holds true with all pairs.
Bruce
Samala
New member
Hmm.. I know that boxier, or more squared off looking, dragonface pipes turned out to be males. I wonder if this holds true for more than simply the dragonface pipes.
Gulf pipes, northern pipes and dwarf pipes here in Florida follow the same trend. Males tend to look heavier and more squared out through the belly than the females do.
>Sarah
Gulf pipes, northern pipes and dwarf pipes here in Florida follow the same trend. Males tend to look heavier and more squared out through the belly than the females do.
>Sarah
Luis A M
Premium Member
I´ve been checking Kuiter.Banded pipes are Dunckerocampus now,though belonging to the same ¨flagtail¨group as Doryrhamphus.
It says adults are found as mated pairs,which stay together.So if one can find two compatible fish in the lfs,we know it is a pair and sexing them becomes irrelevant.
They are said to prefer caves or overhangs and to engage in parasite removing activities.
Great thing that they take frozen mysis.I still have to try with frozen cyclopeeze.
In the past,not having mysis,feeding was a pain.Some took bs but others didn´t and starved.I found that these would take live Daphnia,during the few seconds that they remained alive in SW.
They also ate just hatched damsel larvae and eggs,which they managed to steal from the nest.Obviously not easy to provide food,so mysis is a good step in the way of keeping them in good shape and eventually spawning.
Luis A M
Premium Member
pipes update
pipes update
I found the following differences in my pair,though I don´t know if they could be sex related:
"A" is a little larger,has dark brownish-red bands and the tail fin is slightly pointed.
"B" has black bands and a round tail fin.
I imagine "A" is the male.
So far,"A" feeds exclusively on Hikari mysis,while "B" only takes adult/midsize bs.None takes CE.Shows these fish are kinda individualistic...
pipes update
I found the following differences in my pair,though I don´t know if they could be sex related:
"A" is a little larger,has dark brownish-red bands and the tail fin is slightly pointed.
"B" has black bands and a round tail fin.
I imagine "A" is the male.
So far,"A" feeds exclusively on Hikari mysis,while "B" only takes adult/midsize bs.None takes CE.Shows these fish are kinda individualistic...
Well my male is now carrying eggs again and there are more this time. I need to figure out their gestation period to know if I should isolate the male. If he gives birth in the display tank I will never see them.
Luis I have noticed that the bands change colors from time to time. Sometimes they look black and white and sometimes red-brown and yellowish.
Luis I have noticed that the bands change colors from time to time. Sometimes they look black and white and sometimes red-brown and yellowish.
Here's a link to a picture of the male.
http://forum.seahorse.org/index.php?act=Attach&type=post&id=18900
http://forum.seahorse.org/index.php?act=Attach&type=post&id=18900
