Female Dwarf Gourami (In the US)?

[dartos]

I have a male dwarf gourami and I am looking for a companion for him (or 2). I went to my local Petco today and although the sign says that the fish are "Dwarf Gourami (Male)" I believe that they might have some females! I asked the man running the department and he said that they were all males because the breeders do not sell them females, but instead keep them for themselves.

I am confused though because I have googled "Female Dwarf Gourami" and it has given me pictures of silverish dwarf gouramis. The gouramis at the store were silverish to white and were not yet 2".

I am asking to every expert gourami keeper out there whether young dwarf gouramis are either silverish or whitish when they are young. I have also noticed that with the best picture I have found, on the net, of dwarf gouramis, the barbels are missing. At first I thought that since its barbels were missing and its coloring was not as bright as the other dwarf gouramis in the tank that it might be because it was stressed, however after looking at pictures of female dwarf gouramis, I am no longer sure.

Sorry about the long post but I really want to know because I will be out by that pet store again tonight and I might stop by and buy two of the female looking dwarfs for my male. Thank you in advance for any help that you can give me.

 

[pseud]

The first is the coloring, but even then sometimes it can be hard to tell if the fish are living in poor conditions or are stressed. You should look at the anal fin too. THe fin on their underside. The male's anal fin is more pointy, the female's is more rounded - almost bulbous.

The pic you posted is a female, and this is a male. Notice the difference in the anal fin?

 

[dartos]

Thank you for the response, and I do see what you are talking about with the anal fin.

I went back to the pet store last night and "upon further review" I think that they may just be stressed males or not very colorful males. I noticed that all of the suspect gouramis had a red color on the very edge of their tail fins, which makes me think that they might not have their full coloring yet. All of the suspect gouramis are also younger than the colorful males (they are 1" compared to the 2-3" males).

If anyone knows whether young dwarf gouramis are mostly colorless, except for their banding, then please let me know.

I was disappointed because females are next to impossible to find around here. I still might go back to look at their anal fins just to be sure. I guess I am a glutton for punishment.

 

[sylvia]

The dorsal fin is also logner and more pointed in males and the females are deeper-bodied and wider when viewed from above.

The fish in your picture does have feelers BTW (they aren't barbels - barbels are what you find on catfish and some cyprinids etc, by the mouth - the feelers on gouramies are just modified ventral/pelvic fins ). She just has them very flat against her body and they don't extend beyong her penduncle.

Anyway, yes, young gouramies are generaly just silvery colored. Males then start developing faint stripes. The red fin-edges you described, if that's the only marking you could distinguish (no actual stripes), sound like the first markings that appear on young male powder blue dwarfs (a color morph).

I'm sorry to say you probably won't be finding any females at your LFS. However, do consider ordering online...

 

[pseud]

I asked the man running the department and he said that they were all males because the breeders do not sell them females, but instead keep them for themselves.

When I finally tracked some females down last month I double checked on the phone before I went to pick up. The girl said 'yes, I'm sure they're females. I have loads because nobody wants to buy them'. So, it's possible the LFS doesn't stock them because they don't sell too well - probably because they aren't as flashy as the males.

 

[dartos]

Thank you both for the responses.

So, it's possible the LFS doesn't stock them because they don't sell too well - probably because they aren't as flashy as the males.

I think you are exactly right. I took Sylvia's advice and went to an online seller to look for females and they were $2 cheaper than the males of the same species. Unfortunately their shipping prices were more than 4x the price I would pay for the two females I wanted. I guess I will just wait and hope that an LFS near me will happen to get females.

Sorry about the barbel, feeler confusion. Still new to all of this and I am learning.

 

[gaya]

I've never seen a female at large LFS chain stores. Try checking the mom and pops in your area as they'd probably be more likely to have them.

 

[tatsu]

I work at Petco in New Jersey and we carry female dwarf gouramis. I checked earlier this morning after reading this post.

Just wanted to clarify that.

I also wanted to add that we (NJ Petco) do not seperate by gender and no, I will not ship any.