New guy in the Polypterus Dept

[balton777]

I finally caved. I've been looking at all these awesome Bichirs and couldn't resist anymore. I was at the LFS and I got this apx 8" (so called WC) Ornate Bichir. By looking at it, can anyone tell if it's male or female? Also, does it look WC? I paid $50 for this little guy, I hope he's worth it.

 

[santoury]

I think that Anne can sex it if you give us a shot of the anal fin.

 

[Loubard]

Nice ornate! Looks like a female, how big is it?

 

[balton777]

Nice ornate! Looks like a female, how big is it?

The guy at my LFS said apx 8" and that seems about right imo, didn't actually measure him/her. Do females grow smaller than males?

 

[Razman]

I think that Anne can sex it if you give us a shot of the anal fin.

you can get a clear view of it form the 2nd pic, i think iits female also unless its under the right age of maturity (spelling). nice ornate, and if he is over 7-8in. than i think $50 is about right but im not good with prices.

 

[Loubard]

Mmmm, I have red over the size in your first post, sorry about that. The fish is al little bit to small to say for shure that it is a female, if she's 10-12" we can probably say for shure.

The size difference isn't obvious, although my experience is that the females will be fatter than the males.

Nice looking bichir and $50 isn't expensive in my book.

 

[lymiq]

agree with loubard ... still small to determine the sex ... won't be certain until 12" and up ... the size of the anal fin will be 5times bigger than it is now if that is a male and relatively the same shape and perhaps twice the size it is now .. then you have a female.

it is hard to tell if it is WC since it is cheaper to buy them captive born ... could very well be a trade-in or WC like the retailed said .. regardless, $50 isn't too bad, I saw 4" specimens selling for $40 bucks around here ...

 

[beblondie]

Hi,
$50.00 is a good price for an 8''ornate.It really needs to be bigger smaller species can usually be sexed at 6-8 inches.Medium (ornates and laps) need to be about 12'' to reliably sex them.To sex any species of bichir and ropefish
(reedfish) look at the anal fin the males anal fin is approx. twice as wide as the females,you'll also notice at the base it is more muscular than the females-Anne
P.S.Almost forgot females tend to be larger than males

 

[Razman]

anne how long have you been a mod? did you just become one or should i feel like an idiot?

 

[beblondie]

Last night lol