severums

Question
QUESTION: How do I tell which is the mail or female? I have a green and yellow sevrum but don't know what sex they are. Both have very long pointed dorsal and anal fins. The anal fin is very long pointed and passes the tail. Does this mean they could be male???

ANSWER: Hi Jennifer,
 Actually with severums, there are no really clear differences between the sexes.  Both could have long pointy fins.  

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: You havent answered the question HOW do I tell the difference between male and female

Answer
Hi Jennifer,
 The answer is that you cannot.  They do not have any external markings that tell you which sex they are, what we call "dimorphic".  Rather, severums are what we call "monomorphic" meaning that both sexes look the same.  There are some differences between one individual and the next, but these are not related to which sex the fish is.   

 The only time you can really tell the sex of a severum is when they are actually spawning. At that point, the female's ovipositor (the tube which she lays the eggs with) has a different shape than the male's genital papillae (the tube which he uses to fertilize the eggs).  The female tube has a blunt end while the male tube is more pointy.


-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>