Identifying Male from Female Flowerhorn Fish

How to Tell if your Flowerhorn Fish is Male or a Female

If you want to know whether your flowerhorn fish is male or female, there are basic methods to do. Identifying their genders can be an easy task for experts but for people who are just starting the hobby, it may be a difficult job. Here are some techniques on how you can classify the gender of your flowerhorn fish.

Even though they are hybrid fish, which means they are bred through experimental (trial and error as it is) and they are genetically engineered, there are several signs that tell whether your flower horn fish is a male or female. In the early years, it is almost impossible to detect the sexuality because it is still in the early stage of studying the species. As the years go by, scientists and ichthyologists discover certain procedures on how they can identify the gender of flowerhorns.

Scarlet Fashion Flowerhorn Fish

Male and female flowerhorn fish look almost exactly the same when they are young. It is for hobbyist to wait until they reach their puberty before they can conduct a gender test.

After your flowerhorn fish (or before you begin your breeding procedure) reached at least 4-5 inches in size, you can try to identify their sexuality. By this time, their characteristics have fully developed. Below this line, it is difficult to tell whether it is a male or female. You can start by looking at the shape of the anal pore of each fish. A male flowerhorn fish has a “U” shaped pore while the counterpart has a “V” shape pore.

In other words, a male reproductive organ is much more thinner and pointed while in female, it has a broader or rounded reproductive organ.

Flowerhorns are known to have large hump on the top of its head. Each group of gender has its own unique hump sizes. The male fish has a bigger hump on his head. It can develop a translucent bump unlike the female that only increase its size later in their life span.

You can also observe the movements of each flowerhorns during this time. Once you are on the breeding process, you can easily recognize the female from the male as she is more dominant than her counterpart. The male will be providing the safeguarding of the eggs. He will look for predators, other fish and other unnecessary elements that go near the eggs. He will make sure that the eggs reached their hatching level and that the fries will survive in any circumstances. That is basic animal instinct!

Note: If you have to conduct this at the verge of breeding process and you have to look closely at the fish tank or aquarium, you should refrain from making unnecessary movements. Always remember that a pair of breeding flowerhorn fish is very sensitive to its environments.

Hope this helps!

Photo Credit: Wikipedia