Apisto Sex ID

[gatorlaz]

Picked up these apistos about a month ago from a local breeder and wanted to confirm if they are 2 females and 1 male.  I always thought the females had less color than the males, but the shiny one with the red dorsal fin is throwing me off since it's more vibrant than the flat yellow one.  Thanks for any help!

[Fish Folk]

I’ll make a guess…

(1) Female in spawning colors. Most species turn bright yellow.

(2) Male. Elongated dorsal rays, and multi-colors.

(3) Very hard to sex. Might be a young / sneaker male. Watch the white tips on ventral fins. If these elongate… male. Watch the front dorsal rays. If these elongate… male. But if this fish turns bright yellow… female! I’m guessing male presently.

What species are these? Bitaeniata? (Banded Apistos)

Edited May 15, 2022 by Fish Folk

[gatorlaz]

Thanks for the guess, I went looking online for apisto trifasciata and your first thought was correct.  Yellow is spawing colors and the males are light and blue.  The third one is still a toss up, but it is smaller than the other two so I'm guessing it's still too young to guess, but thanks for the tips to look for if it's a sneaker male.

[DreamScape_Aquatics]

I'm actually breeding some of these guys at the moment. I have to agree completely with the identified male and female. They are probably a pair. The third appears to be a subdominant male. The easiest way for me to sex these type is the dorsal fin. The male will have a much more pronounced dorsal.  Hope this helps! 

Maybe we can get another picture of the unidentified one? 

[gatorlaz]

Another photo of the juvenile, still not sure what it is, but I do see some white on the ventral fins...I'll just have to wait a little longer before I can definitively tell.