Determining The Sex in Discus Fish
In juvenile fish, determining sex is almost impossible.
It is only
when they begin to pair off that an opportunity arises to help in
the determination of sex. Juvenile fish, both male and female, have
a rounded dorsal fin, and it is not until they begin to mature that
a difference can be detected. As it is never wise to excessively
handle the fish, close observation is in order to aid the breeder.
In Allnut Enterprises' King Discus Hatchery, for example, it is
an easy process to determine who is who, as we have observed these
fish for a while, and can determine the sex of the pairs we own.
This would be true in any hatchery. But to the uninitiated or
casual observer, this would not be easy to do.
Some of the identifiers: The male will have thicker lips to aid
him in his fight to protect the female, and will be more
aggressive. He will be larger than the female, his forehead is
thicker, and we have observed that if the discus are a bit shy, the
male will have a tendency to stay between the female and the
observer.
The dorsal fin of the male will be pointed, and the female's
dorsal fin will be rounded. Note that in juvenile discus, this is
not apparent.
The breeding tube of the female, between the anus and anal fin,
is broader and rounder than the male, and will have a blunt tip.
The male, in turn, has a smaller, sharper breeding tube.
Be aware
that this is only evident during spawning, and should be closely
observed.
It has been said that the male discus fish will tend to have a
less intense color and more pattern while the female tends to be
more colorful but with lesser pattern. I disagree, because too many
variables are in place here, such as the health of the discus, the
water parameters, and feeding pattern.
In an interesting article by
Jeff Richard, he discusses an article from
Diskus Brief, a German publication, which reports a very successful
way of determine sex of a discus by using simple geometry.
Jeff
reports, and I quote: "Picture a discus facing to your left ... you
would be looking at its side.
Find the Dorsal (Top) and Anal
(bottom) fins and look where the fins slope down toward the Caudal
(tail) fin ... make sure you're looking at the fins after they have
curved back toward the tail.
The Dorsal and Anal Fins become
(almost) straight after the fins curve down (or up) toward the
Caudal Fin ... extend an imaginary line along this straight section
of the 2 fins back toward the tail which just touches the Dorsal
& Anal Fins past the Caudal Fin.
These two imaginary lines
should intersect behind the fish. The key to sexing the fish is
where the lines cross the Caudal fin. If they pass through the
Caudal Fin, the fish is most likely a FEMALE. If they miss or just
touch the Caudal Fin, then most likely it is a MALE.
" Thanks,
Jeff!
Sexing Discus is difficult at best. The easiest way to do so is
to raise a group of at least six to eight discus, and allow them to
pair off when ready. It is a beautiful sight to see this happen,
and makes the hobby well worthwhile.
About The Author:
Alden Smith is an award winning author.
His website at King
Discus is filled with information and articles relating to the
hobby. This article is one of a series on Discus fish. Find more at
his site.
Alden Smith is a published author, and has been marketing on the
internet for 7 years.
Read more articles at his website,
King
Discus, an active gathering place for discus breeders and
lovers of discus fish.
His wife Betsy is the administrator of
All The
Best Recipes a site rich in online recipes and cookbooks.
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