Endlicherri growth rate?

EelWranglerSeb

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Sep 1, 2022
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Hello all! Today at my LFS I found a gem, what I believe is a 3” endlicherri bichir mislabeled as a Delhezi. I bought it the moment I saw it in the tank. I’m not 100% sure it’s an endi, I’ll be posting pics later to confirm the species. In the meantime, I’m curious about the growth rate of endis. Do they follow the usual inch per month rule, and which size would their growth start to slow?
 
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kno4te

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I think 1inch per month till about 12inches. Then it slows down.
 

twentyleagues

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I recently purchased 2 baby endli. Both were the same size. They were tiny maybe 2". 1 has much darker bands and is much prettier then the other. The drab one shot up to about 6" in the first 3 months where the other is chugging along at about half to an inch growth per month. I'm guessing my "ugly duckling" is going to make up in size for what it lacks in the looks department. They were purchased from a fish swap. They were bagged together so it was a package deal.
 
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EelWranglerSeb

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twentyleagues twentyleagues

It may be too early to tell by the anal fin, though it certainly sounds like your drab one is female and the pretty one is male. The growth and drab patterns lean towards female physiology and same spoken for the male. Often seen in nature the females will lack colour/patterns so they stand out less. Opposite is said about males because they use their patterns to impress during mating. Not true between every animal, but certainly a common pattern.
 

twentyleagues

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twentyleagues twentyleagues

It may be too early to tell by the anal fin, though it certainly sounds like your drab one is female and the pretty one is male. The growth and drab patterns lean towards female physiology and same spoken for the male. Often seen in nature the females will lack colour/patterns so they stand out less. Opposite is said about males because they use their patterns to impress during mating. Not true between every animal, but certainly a common pattern.
The only true way to tell will be the anal fin once sexually mature. Polys change color so much depending on environment, such as substrate color, decor and what not. The faster growth and larger size may be a case. It is for most constrictor snakes. Not sure that has been documented in polypturid species. My mature female ropefish are all bigger then the mature males. I had three delhezi one female 2 males rehomed 1 male do to aggression. The female is much larger then either male and much better looking but I believe she is wc and both male are cb which plays a role too. So yeah wait and see when they are mature.
 
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