Male or female ram

[Julian D]

Edited April 26, 2021 by Julian D

[Paul_Obermiller]

It looks like a female because of the front spines on the dorsal fin. The males have spines (3 and 4 from the front) extended), but it could be a male because it has a point at the back of the dorsal fin. I'm leaning more towards female. How big and how old is it?

 

[Slowgo Tolkiin]

Looks male to me .. this is my female the one one the right with pink stomach .. the makes normally have longer pectoral fins

[Fish Folk]

13 hours ago, Julian D said:

This is hard to determine. I've been seeing this color morph more and more. There is a fair bit of cross-breeding among Rams. They are sometimes bred and kept without clear reference to sex and care. Often they're are sold by indiscriminate net-fulls to stores.

If the belly turns more pink, of course it's a female. A darker orange face sometimes indicates a male. The front of the dorsal fin can be helpful -- males are often longer. The black side spot is usually very dark on males, with no colored scales in; whereas the females often have colored (jeweled) scales in the black spot. This still looks to be a young fish, to my eye. Maybe things will become more clear with time?

[FrostiesFishes]

It looks like it could be a male but it looks kinda washed out. I’d let it settle and take another photo when it’s color returns. 

[Lowells Fish Lab]

The fins and faint blue spangling on the black spot look female to me. It looks old enough to be sexually mature but only faint if any pink color on the underbelly.

If I had to guess I would say female but I bet that with some time and good food it will become more obvious.