Female Saulosi colouration?

[Abyss]

Hi,

I recently got a batch of 16 Saulosi. With the intention of selling on any excess males as they showed themselves in the future.

I originally had this fish down as a male. It had;

Slight barring.
A whitish head with a stripe.
Slight black marking on fin.
NO egg spots.

However, it now appears to be holding?

So, is this normal for a Saulosi female to display slight male traits?

I was always told that females tend to show some slight barring at times, along with black on the fin, but stripes on the head are not as common in females. Are eggspots an accuarate way to sex them, even when younger?

 

[joe jaskot]

All saulosi are born yellow. The males turn blue as they mature. Eggspots are not a good indicator of sex. Females can at times show male characteristics, especially when holding.

 

[Abyss]

Yeah mate, one already turned completely blue really quickly. It was more how pronounced male colouration becomes in females that I was asking about. Here's a pic of my dominant male, it's a bad pic, but you get the picture.

 

[dledinger]

Don't put much stock in eggspots. Comments about them being related to sex are broad generalizations. In my opinion, you'll best see the any differences in eggspots with adult fish, where the males spots tend to be brighter and more definied.

I've never learned to vent, but behavior has generally provided me pretty solid clues as to who is who.

 

[Pharaoh]

Saulosi are know to have males that do not color up. You'll generally only have 2-3 males showing color at any given time. You have to vent them to know the sex if it isn't completely obvious.