# Male or Female Guppy???



## dollfish

I bought a few male guppy fish, but I think one of them may be a female... Can someone please take a look at my picture and let me know what they think?

http://lockerz.com/s/153285397

Sorry, the picture quality isn't that great... the guppy I think may be female is the one on the top.

Any help would be much appreciated


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## bmlbytes

Too difficult to tell definitively. Take a look at this crude sketch I found online. It actually does a decent job of showing the difference.

You look at the anal fin of the fish. If it is thin, then it is a male (the fin is called a gonopodium then). If it looks like a normal fin, then it is a female.


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## dollfish

Thanks I will have to take a close look at it... Is it common for male guppy fish to look so different? Also, my male guppy has been nipping at this one's anal fin area... what does that mean?


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## bmlbytes

Guppies will breed like its nobody's business. If the other one is a female, its usually a breeding habit.


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## dollfish

Thanks for the info


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## ZebraDanio12

Yours are males. They're pretty too!


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## dollfish

Yay! How can you tell that its male? I'd like to know for future reference


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## FrichKazzone

Guppies will breed like its nobody's business.


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## bmlbytes

I'm actually leaning toward female for the top, right one.

Here are better pictures that I stole from this site.

Male guppy








-Brighter colors
-Larger tail
-Gonopodium (thin pointy anal fin)
-Thiner body

Female guppy








-Less bright colors
-Smaller tail
-Sail shaped anal fin (no gonopodium)
-Fatter, less streamline body
-Gravid spot may or may not be visible

Again, the gonopodium is the only surefire way to determine gender, but these other characteristics should help in identifying gender in guppies


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## Fishpunk

dollfish said:


> Thanks I will have to take a close look at it... Is it common for male guppy fish to look so different? Also, my male guppy has been nipping at this one's anal fin area... what does that mean?


Secondary sexual characteristics are very obvious in guppies. A male guppy generally has the most vivid colors, have a caudal fin that is significantly more fanned, and will be a bit smaller in body than the female. The female will often be silver in wild guppies. In fancy guppy females, although they do get some of the color of the males, they will have less vivid coloration and have a large portion of their body plain, often silver like the wild guppy. 

Look at the pictures posted by bmlbytes. The female is not as colorful as the male, has a caudal fin that is less fanned, and although the photos are not the same scale, guaranteed the female is larger than the male by a good 20-30%.

Now look at your photo. The same differences can be seen, so the photo evidence supports the top guppy being female and the bottom fish male.

These secondary sexual characteristics are very pronounced in guppies, but yes/no on the gonopodium is still the best indicator, as bmlbytes already said.

As for the second question, the male "nipping" at the females vent is typical hit-and-run mating behavior. I've seen slow motion video of guppies mating. The actual sexual act is extremely fast. (I speculate that the male uses his lips to locate the target, aka the vent) He hits the vent with his gonopodium very quickly, on the order of milliseconds. 

This will happen hundreds of times a day, which is why it is recommended to have more females than males. One female in a tank of males will be harassed relentlessly and may even die from the stress. You should put plenty of hiding places for her in that tank.


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## ZebraDanio12

LOok at the anal fins. Males have gonopodiums (sure i spelled that wrong) . They are not spread out like a females, which look a fan. But they are held back and pointed. They kinda look sharp. Females usually don't have bright vibrent colors on their tails or body, but sometimes you can find some really nice ones. Females don't usually have color on their bodies. But they can. The normal colors are blond, grey, or just plain. Colors can be misleading, so i wouldn't charge it by that. Females will also have a gravid spot. On some, harder to see. 

Im positive yours are males, the picture is a bit hard to tell, but im sure of it.


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## bmlbytes

The top one does not indicate male at all. You can't even see the anal fin, its a dull color, it is larger and rounder. Females will not always have a gravid spot. They will only have a gravid spot if they are gravid. Females can display bright colors, but usually only in the tail. Without clearer images, I am fairly certain that it is a female.


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## Fishpunk

I see one male and one female.


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## ZebraDanio12

Hmmm, can you give us another picture???


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## Fishpunk

ZebraDanio12 said:


> Hmmm, can you give us another picture???


*I* can't. They aren't my fish.


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## P.senegalus

Edited, please ignore this or delete my post.


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## Fishpunk

The problem is that the background is almost the same color as the fins. Nothing about the anal fin on this fish is clear enough to see even after trying every color enhancement tool available. 

However, ALL the secondary sexual traits point to this being a female, therefore it must be male.


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## P.senegalus

No need for sarcasm. I didn't mean to offend anyone with my post. I think I'll just edit my post to avoid conflict.


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## dollfish

Ok I tried taking a close look today but I still can't tell... I think I need a magnifying glass 
I will post a better pic as soon as I get one. 

Thanks for all your input everyone. All this information is awesome


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## ZebraDanio12

No, i didn't mean you, i ment dollfish to take another pic.


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## dollfish

Another pic will be posted in the near future... I hope its a male - I've already named it Lt. William Finn


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## funlad3

Great name! :lol:


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## Fishpunk

There are two ways to answer this. (1) Take a photo with a more neutral background, white would be best. (2) Wait a month and if the fish becomes gravid, it is female. If you still can't tell, not long after that you should see fry in the tank. Fry in the tank removes all doubt. If by February no fry ever appear in the tank, it's safe to say the fish is probably male.


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## Sorafish

It looks either like a male that's not completely adult, or a female that was in a tank with many males and developed male coloring. 
They look at least somewhat related, and the fish in question's dorsal looks like a females, as it isn't the same shape as the males. The coloring indicates a male...but it really looks like a colorful female. It may not be fertile if it was in with many males.


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## platies pwn

dollfish said:


> I bought a few male guppy fish, but I think one of them may be a female... Can someone please take a look at my picture and let me know what they think?
> 
> http://lockerz.com/s/153285397
> 
> Sorry, the picture quality isn't that great... the guppy I think may be female is the one on the top.
> 
> Any help would be much appreciated


The top one is a female that may be changing it's sex to male.


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## dollfish

Hello Everyone,

I would like to thank everyone for their advice and information 

Here is a new picture


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## bmlbytes

I guess it is male after all. Not a very colorful male, but it is male.


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## dollfish

yeah, I figured out he was male after I took the picture - thank goodness for zoom! 

Thanks for all your help!!! Much appreciated


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## dollfish

female guppy fish can turn into males?


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## bbytes

Some people believe that females can change into males. There has never been a published study where female guppies that have given birth have ever turned into a male guppy. Most likely people identify juvenile male guppies as females, since they haven't developed their male features. Then when they do develop, people see this and think that the female turned male. More likely, the fish was male from the start.


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## dollfish

Thanks! It would be weird if guppies could change sexes lol.


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## platies pwn

dollfish said:


> Thanks! It would be weird if guppies could change sexes lol.


They can.


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## bmlbytes

That has never been confirmed. Read what I just posted earlier today.



bbytes said:


> Some people believe that females can change into males. There has never been a published study where female guppies that have given birth have ever turned into a male guppy. Most likely people identify juvenile male guppies as females, since they haven't developed their male features. Then when they do develop, people see this and think that the female turned male. More likely, the fish was male from the start.


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## platies pwn

bmlbytes said:


> That has never been confirmed. Read what I just posted earlier today.


I READ what you posted earlier.What do you mean it has never been confirmed?It has happened to my fish.There are many threads about it happening.Where do you get your info?It sounds a little outdated.


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## fish1

i dont believe that females can change into males if you have a adult female that has given birth it will always be a female i like to know why i have not witnessed it lol


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## bmlbytes

platies pwn said:


> I READ what you posted earlier.What do you mean it has never been confirmed?It has happened to my fish.There are many threads about it happening.Where do you get your info?It sounds a little outdated.


Did your females actually have babies before they changed to male?

Link me a credible source stating that guppies have been proven to change sex, and I will retract my statement. I have yet to find a credible, published book that says definitively that they can change sex.


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## platies pwn

bmlbytes said:


> Did your females actually have babies before they changed to male?
> 
> Link me a credible source stating that guppies have been proven to change sex, and I will retract my statement. I have yet to find a credible, published book that says definitively that they can change sex.


i could not get them in time.
It has had several batches of fry before changing.All died,however,because


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## Fishpunk

This is a response by aquarium expert Neale Monks to a question on WetWebMedia. The question was in regard to platties and swords, but from the last part of the response, it is pretty obvious that the answer would be the same for guppies.



> There is no evidence at all any Xiphophorus species change sex. As your literature review should reveal, while it has been mentioned in the aquarium literature many times, it has never been observed under laboratory conditions. It is widely believed to be a myth, with aquarists having misidentified a slow-developing male as a female. Sex changes in fish tend to confined to marine Perciform groups. - Neale Monks


The page where I found this is here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/swordreprofaqs.htm

Search for "changing" and it should take you right to the question.


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