Male female?

[Mohinga]

I recently got a pair of scarlet plecos bbutI wanted to make sure they are a pair.

Does anyone know how to tell the difference?

 

[tlindsey]

I recently got a pair of scarlet plecos bbutI wanted to make sure they are a pair.
View attachment 1510502
Does anyone know how to tell the difference?

Niki_up

 

[Niki_up]

Niki_up

Thanks for the tag!
I’m not well versed with scarlet plecos (I think they are l025)

my initial guess would be female on top and male on bottom. The scarlet is a cactus pleco so both sexes get “hairy” the bottom on just looks slightly hairier. The top one kind of has a bulge in the mid section and a smaller tail taper making me think female…yes the bottom one looks fatter but his lines are longer and it might just be he gets more food because he’s bigger. the nose on the top one also looks shorter and “stumpier” not a deformity or anything just a sexual difference in traits.

I may be very wrong here as some species of plecos the female is the larger of the pair but I do not think this is the case here.

I do hope they are indeed a pair for you and give you lots of babies