Why is finding a male pearl gourami so difficult?

[Bonnie]

I have been in fish stores in several cities in the US, that have a lot of pearl gouramis in one tank--and not one is male. They all have short, rounded dorsal fins. I realize that when they are immature, it's hard to tell. But I have seen tanks full of large pearl gouramis--and not one is male.

I recently bought an immature one, and hope it will turn out to be a male. I try to go by the length of the dorsal fin, and shape. If it appears to be a little pointed, and slightly longe than the other gouramis' dorsla fins, I hope it will be a male. My success rate with this system over the years is about 50%.

Does anyone else know why male pearl gouramis are so hard to come by? Are they being bred in water with some chemicals that make the young fish all turn out to be female? Is there any surer way to determine which young gouramis will be male and which female? Thanks.

 

[Dwarfs]

Males usually have bright red throats, mine does

 

[StanTheBetta]

I haven't looked around for pearl gouramis, but I haven't seen any female gouramis of any kind at petco or my lfs. That is, out of all the dwarf species and blue gouramis. I don't know how to sex the kissing ones but I guess they might have some females in there. I really want a female dwarf too, but I can't find one.

 

[Bangin]

I've never had trouble finding male pearls. In fact, it's been quite the opposite. I have three male pearl gouramis, all purchased at the same time. I tried looking for females but it took several weeks.

It's a little difficult to determine sex when they're still young. Males have dark throats, as previously mentioned by dwarfs, but mine are more orange. Females usually have tan throats, with a hint of orange. You can definitely tell the difference when they're full grown. The males are much more beautiful than the females.

 

[Bonnie]

Both mature male and females have a reddish line on the front part of the pectoral fin (I think that is the right name for it). The males have a much larger red area when they are in breeding colors; I have only seen one male get like this. I couldn't buy him, because my tank was messed up by the St. Louis water. Also, males have a much longer dorsal fin, which is pointed, and reaches all the way to the base of the tail. Females have much shorter and more rounded dorsal fins.

Thanks for the sexing tips, though.

 

[Bonnie]

Pardon me, I meant anal fin. Also, aren't males more elongated in body shape than females?