I just bought three halfbeaks and i was wondering if anyone new if they have gravid spots and how to tell the gender of the fish

Hello!

Sexing halfbeaks is fairly easy. Males are smaller, more colourful, usually have longer beaks, and invariably have an anal fin that looks as if the edge has been folded over. So where the female has a triangular anal fin, the anal fin on the male is more rectangular.

They don't really have a gravid spot quite like that on poecilids, but females do become obviously pregnant by becoming really big and fat. Some species do get a dark patch around the vent as well (e.g. Nomorhamphus liemi) but others don't (e.g. Dermogenys pusilla).

I've got plenty about keeping and breeding halfbeaks here:

http://homepage.mac.com/nmonks/aquaria/halfbeaks.html
http://homepage.mac.com/nmonks/aquaria/halfbeakbreeding.html

These are wonderful fish, and I'm sure you'll enjoy them! It's a shame they aren't that commonly traded. They're a step up from guppies in terms of care, but they breed fairly readily, and the fry are very easy to rear. Really, the only difficult bits are keeping the parents healthy and then making sure pregnant females don't miscarry. Once you figure out these, you're laughing.

Neale

I noticed with my half beaks that the females basically start looking like a really fat cigar when they become gravid. I still have a hard time figuring out when exactly they are going to give birth but there is a very obvious difference between a pregnant and a non-pregnant half beak.