The diff between male and female gouramis

[Bettamex]

How do you know the diff between a male and female gouramis ?


Thanks

 

[Sinuhe]

Depends on the Gourami. When it comes to Dwarf and Honey Gouramis, the female are less colorful. With blue Gouramis, there is supposedly a difference in the shape of the dorsal fin, but as I was looking at some young Blue Gouramis in a fish store today, I was not able to tell a difference, maybe they were too young. I don't know about the rest.

 

[gadazobe]

With young fry it's very difficult to tell the difference - they're both the same colour, but the males start to colour up at a few months old. As Sinuhe said, all gouramis are different - in some the female is much less colourful than the male and in others it's the difference in fin shapes - depends which one you have.

 

[Inchworm]

There are several ways to tell the difference between male and female gouramis.

First, by color, which is not a reliable way to judge because often they look pretty much the same unless they are mating (or thinking about it, anyway.) Although, among the dwarf varities, the color difference may be greater.

Second, by the shape of the dorsal and anal fins. The male's will be longer and more pointed than the female's which are rounded.

Third, and I think the easiest way, is by looking down on them from above. The male gourami will be slender while the female will be rounded in the abdominal area. There is a clear difference between them.

If you look at gouramis in a lfs and cannot see any of these differences in any of the fish, there is a good chance that you are looking at a tank of male gouramis. In particular, the lfs seem to be selling "males only" when it comes to the newer varities of dwarf gouramis.