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Re: Those amazing flag fish
On Fri, 12 Feb 1999, Wright Huntley wrote:
>
[snip]
>
> More likely is that you do have a male. Do all the fish have a clear
> black eyespot in the dorsal? Females always do, and males rarely or
> never do after leaving juvenile status behind. You can use this to sex
> *floridae* at just a couple of months of age, usually (< 1 cm).
Ah, Thanks Wright, its usually the simplest explanation that proves out!
(that's Ocham's Razor, or something, isn't it?) I was using the "American
flag" color pattern to identify males. I can't see the fish from here
(I'm at work, they stayed home) but I'd bet that one of them doesn't have
the eye spot.
Possibly the male went through his breeding color phase and they spawned
back when I was too busy to notice.
In a related letter, Christopher Ferrell asked how to distinguish male
flag fish from females. Wright's response should be helpful.
Roger Miller