I have a t. schalleri also -- he gets along fine with the rest of my sparklers (three female, two male) -- and though they were roughly the same size when I got them, the t. schalleri is about a quarter-inch bigger than the biggest of the t. pumila now. Plus he has the pretty anal fin extension. Unfortunately, all of them are camera shy... those are great pictures above.
As far as sexing -- the only reliable way I've found is being able to see the ovary when the light shines through them. For example, the three females I have now all have the upper row of spots, and though for two the the row is a bit more broken up, for one of them it's just as distinct and looks identical to that of the males'. The fins look identical to the males; one of the females is a little less vividly colored (browns are less dark, the red edging is thinner, the sparkles less bright) but the other two females are just as bright as the males. All three females flare and circle (with each other and with the males), and honestly I can't tell which are doing the clicking.
However, the ovary is distinct. Try floating some food at the front of the tank (cordon it off with some airline tubing or something so it's within an inch of the front) with your tank light in place, so the fish are backlit while they're eating. (It helps to sit low so you're looking up at the light through the fish.) You'll see the sillouette of the internal organs just behind the head in the lower half of the fish, in a male it looks like the lower half of a capital D if the fish is facing left <= (imagine the bottom of the D starting at the thread fins, and the midpoint of the D curve at the lateral line of the fish). In the females, just under the main stripe you'll see a small pointed extension (arrowhead shape) coming off the curve (sometimes it's almost hidden under the stripe, when they're not ripe). Geez this is hard to put into words. But basically, with the lighting, it is a visible difference. In my experience, if the internal organ sillouette of your fish all look the same, then you only have one gender.
Anyway, I've been keeping sparklers for five years now, prior to the ones I have now -- they're my favorite fish -- and the external indicators (fin shape, color, stripes, etc.) have never univerally matched up to having an ovary or not...
As far as sexing -- the only reliable way I've found is being able to see the ovary when the light shines through them. For example, the three females I have now all have the upper row of spots, and though for two the the row is a bit more broken up, for one of them it's just as distinct and looks identical to that of the males'. The fins look identical to the males; one of the females is a little less vividly colored (browns are less dark, the red edging is thinner, the sparkles less bright) but the other two females are just as bright as the males. All three females flare and circle (with each other and with the males), and honestly I can't tell which are doing the clicking.
However, the ovary is distinct. Try floating some food at the front of the tank (cordon it off with some airline tubing or something so it's within an inch of the front) with your tank light in place, so the fish are backlit while they're eating. (It helps to sit low so you're looking up at the light through the fish.) You'll see the sillouette of the internal organs just behind the head in the lower half of the fish, in a male it looks like the lower half of a capital D if the fish is facing left <= (imagine the bottom of the D starting at the thread fins, and the midpoint of the D curve at the lateral line of the fish). In the females, just under the main stripe you'll see a small pointed extension (arrowhead shape) coming off the curve (sometimes it's almost hidden under the stripe, when they're not ripe). Geez this is hard to put into words. But basically, with the lighting, it is a visible difference. In my experience, if the internal organ sillouette of your fish all look the same, then you only have one gender.
Anyway, I've been keeping sparklers for five years now, prior to the ones I have now -- they're my favorite fish -- and the external indicators (fin shape, color, stripes, etc.) have never univerally matched up to having an ovary or not...
/aquaworld.netfirms.com/Labyrinthfis...s_schalleri.htm
