Re: [RML] Sexing desert gobies

Barry Meiklejohn (barrym at powerup.com.au)
Sat, 9 Aug 1997 08:31:14 +1000

Rhonda,

Excellent response - I agree with all and you have put it much more
eloquently than I. By the way I find my gobies will run and hide at first
as well. I find them to be exceptionally curious and if I sit in front of
the tank they will all eventually come back out and see what the large blob
outside is (me).

Bruce says its 'cause I don't feed them and they are pleading for some food
:-)

They are such an amusing little fish struggling up to the surface sinking
down again and then that little hopping thing they do to get around. And
when you see a full coloured Coward Springs male in his golden rainment,
with that peacock blue dorsal and the contrast in the black and white as
you've described - what a sight to behold. I wish I could sit an watch them
all day. One day I am going to get to Coward Springs and I will watch them
in there true habitat.

Regards,
Barry.

-----Original Message-----
From: rhondawi at sprynet.com <rhondawi at sprynet.com>
To: rainbowfish at pcug.org.au <rainbowfish at pcug.org.au>
Date: Saturday, 9 August 1997 2:52
Subject: Re: [RML] Sexing desert gobies

>John,
>
>I have them also and they never seem to want to sit at the front glass
>sideways so I can tell. :) Fortunatly they should display different
>coloration especially in the dorsals. The male dorsals should be a dark
>blackish blue color with the front most dorsal having a yellow stripe at
the
>top and the rear most dorsal having a white stripe at the top. The female
>may have a tiny bit of coloring on the dorsal but it shouldn't be nearly as
>bright and usually only a spot of it.
>
>I've also noticed in a tank full of males and females that the lower
ranking
>males will not be quite as colorful as the higher ranking males, and in my
>observation as the male reaches full maturity they don't seem to be as
>mottled in the body color as the female. To me they seem more of a solid
>color where the female stays very mottled.
>
>I never really looked to see if there was any differance in head size as
the
>coloration pretty much gives them away. I notice teh females, as with many
>fish, tend to be a little more plump too.
>
>Hope this helps,
>
>Rhonda
>
>On Fri, 08 Aug 1997, jgrylls at bendigo.net.au (John Grylls) wrote:
>>Hello all,
>>I have recently purchased a nominal pair of Coward Springs desert
>>gobies, the "male" is about 40-45 mm in length, and the "female" is
>>5-10 mm shorter. They quite are similar in appearance and behaviour,
>>sparring and displaying on occasions.. The larger fish has a slightly
>>more yellow head, and I think that I can convince myself that his head
>>is flatter and proportionately larger, but there is not much in it.
>>Their differences could be explained by sex, but I suspect it could
>>also be explained by differing levels of maturity. Neither fish is
>>sufficiently mature for genital papilla differences to be apparent.
>>Any opinions would be greatly appreciated.
>>Regards
>>John Grylls
>>
>>
>>
>
>http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/RhondaWilson/
>American Livebearer Association
>http://petsforum.com/ala/
>Pets Forum Group Inc.
>http://petsforum.com/