Which grow larger Male or Female Bichirs

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Burbotman

Burbotman

Goliath Tigerfish
MFK Member
Feb 16, 2006
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As the title says, which grow larger? The question has been posed some time ago but I do not believe there was an consensus.

Most North American freshwater fish, the female grows drastically larger than the males. (egg production I believe)

But what about Polypterus??

Share any opinions, experiances or research.

Thanks
 
females, literally every fish that are females grow bigger than males
 
For Teugelsi's at least from my observations it seems that the females are larger girth wise at the same length (I had 10 specimens to compare). For the Bichir Bichirs (2 specimens only to compare) it seems that the male is larger girth wise, but this may also be because the male started eating before the female started eating. However it seems that build wise the male is naturally thicker.

If you're question is specific to the overall max out size between male and female I can't help you.
 
unlike some of the other fish species, there are no definite max size difference between male and female. However, based on experience in captivity, females tend to get bigger and/or thicker, or easier to grow bigger/thicker, because they tend to eat more. But given a male that eats as much as a female, both could potentially get to same size.
 
To my own experience, length wise male grows longer but when it comes to girth females get thicker. I have 8x Nigerian senegalus and all were bought at 6". Now they are now at 10" for all the females but much thicker and 12" for all the males. Same with my polli. All my females are very thick but only at 13", while males are a bit thinner than the females but much longer in length. They are about 14". All were also bought as the same size at 7". My biggest bichir as well which is a male guinea endli at 22" but my other guinea endli that is a female is only at 19". I bought them at the same size of 16". Males also tend to grow faster than females base on my own experience. However, gender growth rate is not always the case as my female ansorgii grows faster than my male ansorgii. Bought them at the same size of 12". Now female at 16" an male at 14".
 
Great info, I was hoping that the keepers with a number of bichirs would give their experiance. Thanks for sharing
 
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