I'm not talking about color, the spotting in the unpaired fins shows at a few inches. I was just showing you examples of the spotting in the fins and bodies. As you can see both male and females will show spotting at this size on the body. I can show you more pics with spotting in the unpaired fins before coloring up. The spotting is the first thing to show up most the time, in the fins. I was trying to show you the best method for picking young males, color and growth rate compared to other juvies does little to identify the sex, along with spotting on the body. Like I said before, I would put my money the 3.5" pic you posted is a female. Good luck though and let us know how it goesMine look quite a bit younger... these are only about 3 and a half months old. Maybe they've been growing to quickly for the colors to develop properly yet. I had Firemouths that reached 3" with very little red in the gills and underformed finnage because their coloration and sexual maturity hadn't caught up with the size the fish had reached.
