A visual guide to sexing new world cichlids
- Thread starter duanes
- Start date
Looks male, but a side view with the dorsal extended would really help, can't see the fin in the pic, and its also hard to really see the profile.
male profile
female
male
female
Thanks Duanes that's why I keep thinking male. Ill get a better side shot with full dorsal and post it 😎
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This is wonderful, and very useful! It will help many people, and now we have this thread as a reference to when people ask questions about sexing new world cichlids! 
Great compilation. IME as a general rule females are almost always darker and display a lot of black, if not on the dorsal then somewhere else on the body. I'll try to get a proper picture of my female ornatum's dorsal blotch today.
I've found a rule with parachromis is the spotting above and below the lateral line. Males of the genus tend to carry spotting and females (other than jags) do not carry the spots which also extend to the dorsal and anal fins. Jaguar females do show a much more prominent lateral line and less broken spotting than makes as well but do have spotting.
Here's my dovii pair.
Female. Note the barring, heavy lateral line, lack of spotting
Male. Note the broken lateral line and spotting throughout.
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Here's my dovii pair.
Female. Note the barring, heavy lateral line, lack of spotting
Male. Note the broken lateral line and spotting throughout.
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Parachromis Sp. La Cieba Freidricsthalii
Very similar in techniques as sexing dovii. Males have spotting above and below lateral line and through the dorsal and anal fins. Females carry little to no spotting on the body and fins, and carry a heavy lateral line and also bar up more so than males.
Female. Little spotting and much lighter shade of yellow.
Male. Lots of spotting above and below lateral line and through fins, and a more gold coloration.
The pair together. Oh I miss these two..
Very similar in techniques as sexing dovii. Males have spotting above and below lateral line and through the dorsal and anal fins. Females carry little to no spotting on the body and fins, and carry a heavy lateral line and also bar up more so than males.
Female. Little spotting and much lighter shade of yellow.
Male. Lots of spotting above and below lateral line and through fins, and a more gold coloration.
The pair together. Oh I miss these two..
My contribution: Herichthys bartoni, a notable exception. This is my old pair from last year, prolific spawners.
Some are now, some are from the past, I also dabble in some Africans and any Madagascan I can get my hands on.
And thanks fishman for the other Parachromis, and HercrenVie, which sex is which bartoni in your pic.
I would also like to add, that sometimes the dorsal color is affected by status in the hierarchy and can be misleading, or if there is another of the same species in the tank.
Here are shots of my female haitiensus when isolated from the male.
Her dominance in the tank seems to allow her to present male characteristics.
And thanks fishman for the other Parachromis, and HercrenVie, which sex is which bartoni in your pic.
I would also like to add, that sometimes the dorsal color is affected by status in the hierarchy and can be misleading, or if there is another of the same species in the tank.
Here are shots of my female haitiensus when isolated from the male.
Her dominance in the tank seems to allow her to present male characteristics.
