Sexing

[LDPatton]

They both look washed out and its hard to tell when they do not show a good pattern. If you use the pics you have posted so far they have more female patterns than males. Males will have spots on the gill plates and over the entire body while females have the heavy barring and little to no spotting. I dont think jags will lay eggs at 4" but I could be wrong. One could be a male but so far the pics dont give a definite answer. I know my jags have changed allot in pattern as they grew from 4" to 11". My male wasnt a for sure until about 6". I will guess once he hit about 6" he became the dominate fish and started to show his pattern and became confident and started claiming tank territory.

 

[maxstillen]

Just like jdpatton stated. The light color gravel disrupts the colors and patterns so it's hard to tell on gender. Going to have to observe their behavior or try to vent them at this point. If not give them time to grow and see.

 

[TakkerDada]

Just like jdpatton stated. The light color gravel disrupts the colors and patterns so it's hard to tell on gender. Going to have to observe their behavior or try to vent them at this point. If not give them time to grow and see.

Here’s a picture of the jag that I think is a male.

 

[LDPatton]

That pic still shows no spotting in the gill plate or body. Still looks more female. Thats a guess and I am no expert but all the males I have and ones I have seen pics of show lots of spots.
Pic of my male when he was roughly 8.5”. Notice the pattern difference? His body color and pattern will change with his mood. The spots on his gill plate and lower jaw never change.

This is another more recent pic where his body shows a little more of the bars. You can still see all the spotting on his body and gill plate as well as his lower jaw. That never changes and only the side bar shows a little more depending on his mood.


One more recent pic again showing his full body pattern.

 

[TakkerDada]

That pic still shows no spotting in the gill plate or body. Still looks more female. Thats a guess and I am no expert but all the males I have and ones I have seen pics of show lots of spots.
Pic of my male when he was roughly 8.5”. Notice the pattern difference? His body color and pattern will change with his mood. The spots on his gill plate and lower jaw never change. View attachment 1445998

This is another more recent pic where his body shows a little more of the bars. You can still see all the spotting on his body and gill plate as well as his lower jaw. That never changes and only the side bar shows a little more depending on his mood.
View attachment 1445999

One more recent pic again showing his full body pattern.
View attachment 1446000

Thanks. What a beautiful fish

 

[LDPatton]

Thanks. What a beautiful fish

Thank you. Your fish is still young so I think theres still hope it could be a male. Maybe another month or two and this fish might show its true colors. I have a thread on this jag and the other jags I bought with him. They were all roughly 1.5” when I bought them. You can see his pattern change in the pics I post and at what size and time the pics are from. If you want to see it search “group of hooligans”. In that thread this male really started to show his pattern at about 5.5” - 6”. Anyway its all in that thread if youre interested.

 

[TakkerDada]

Okay so here’s an update. The female jag looks pregnant, she also has her breeding tube sticking out. She has been moving the sand around has has made a clean spot for herself. I’m not sure though. I don’t even know if the other know if the other jag is a male. Well, even he has this little pointy thing sticking out. They’re together almost all the time though they charge at each other and rub their bodies against each other frequently. I’ve tried clicking a few pictures. What are your thoughts on it?

 

[maxstillen]

Looks like You have a male and a female for sure judging from their vents. Congrats, hopefully you get some frys soon.

 

[TakkerDada]

Looks like You have a male and a female for sure judging from their vents. Congrats, hopefully you get some frys soon.

Thank you so much. I hope to get some frys soon too

 

[LDPatton]

Ya I would say the second pic looks male from the vent and you can finally see the spotting pattern coming out in the body.