sexing speciosus (shellies)

[marya]

Hi all, I got a great pair of Lamprologus speciosus from Ron saturday. They are the most fascinating fish I have kept so far. Ron picked me out a male and a female. I thought I had them figured out as far as which was which, but now I don't know. One is slightly larger and fuller looking, the other is smaller and more streamlined. I thought the larger one was the female, but last night that one was doing alot of "posing" and gill flaring so I decided it must be the male and the smaller of the pair was the female. They spent some time hovering around one another, and nipping at each other's tails, then they would cross over each other and just hang in the water near a shell. This morning the larger of the two was head first in a shell and has been in there since. It pulled out once briefly and looked around, then went back inside and hasn't come out. That was the one I thought was the male, but from what I have read the female is the one who hangs out inside the shell for extended periods... :blink:

perplexing! ...but very very interesting. My husband and my mother are already big fans of the shellies.

 

[marya]

whoops, one more question. (can we edit existing posts on this forum if they have not been replied to yet? not sure...)
I have read that speciosus are different from shell dwellers such as multis in that speciosus will not form colonies. They prefer to remain singly in a territory. Ron, have you or anyone here found that to be true?

 

[JustRon]

Marya,

I will look for something with some more detail about the fish.

Give me a bit as I have some shipments arriving

 

[marya]

Thanks Ron. I looked them up in Axelrod but couldn't find anything, but i might have just missed them. I bought two back issues of the buntbarsche bulliten in nj which have a two part article listing tons of shellies and their habits but it does not include the speciosus. Finally last night I found one very good comprehensive site on them: http://www.cichlidae.com/tanks/t054.html
That answered alot of my queries. I am fairly certain now that the larger of the pair is indeed the male. Both of them squeezed inside one shell together for a few minutes yesterday. Since then the female has gaurded that shell consistantly whereas before she was going in between several shells. I noticed that the male tried to go into that shell again late last night and the female very gently pushed him away from it with her side. Really cool fish.

 

[JustRon]

maybe you have eggs already, get ready with your breeding program report

 

[Charlotte]

How exciting!! I remember when we used to have time to sit and watch the fish...
Thanks to some help from a few friends we hope to soon be able to do that again. Especially after I retire.

Marya, it is a really good idea for you to keep notes on your fish watching experiences. We have learned that the hobbiest are the best form of information around, expecially when you get such great observations that you have mentioned. You will be able to document the day the eggs were laid and how long they incubate.

I'm also glad to see you are getting your husband "hook, line and sinker", so to speak. We will be looking forward to meeting him at an upcoming meeting.