How to tell the difference between a male and female guppy

Muskateer Een · 01-27-2005, 04:49 PM

Okay, about two weeks before thanksgiving, my female guppie died, I had no idea why, until three days later, my roomate was looking at my fish tank and screamed 'You have baby fishies!!!!'
One of them lived, and I want to know if it's a female or male, because I don't want to put Junior in the big tank with Daddy if it's a female, and she'd die from child birth like her mom.
So are there any really distinguishing traits? I think that Junior is female, but I can't really tell.
Thanks so much for the help

Lexus · 01-27-2005, 05:03 PM

Sexing guppies is relatively easy. Generally speaking, the males have much longer, ornate and colorful finnage, whereas the females tend to have smaller fins and not as much color. Of course, a more sure fire method of sexing guppies is to examine their anal/ventral fin. As is true with most common livebearers, the ventral fin on the male is formed into a pointed device called the gonopodium, a stick-like modified anal fin, which is used for depositing sperm. The female's fin is larger and rounded in order to aid in sperm reception.

also see...
http://guppyplace.tripod.com/Anatomy.html

WinovichAquatics · 01-27-2005, 05:37 PM

The babies don't usually develope sex until about 1 1/2 months, in my experience. Also, if the baby is too small (small enough to fit into dads mouth) then there is a good chance it will get eaten. Dieing from childbirth has never occured in my experience so I would not be too worried about that, but you may have a different problem all together. When the babies does develop sexual organs, males have a modified anal fin that is rounded and can be flexed in many directions. The female have a normal anal fin and show a dark spot where the eggs are. You can see pics of both male & female gups on my website www.winovichreptiles.com/aquatics.html Hope this helped!

Muskateer Een · 01-30-2005, 11:02 AM

Thanks for your help. Junior is a girl

mousey · 01-30-2005, 05:55 PM

I have had females die after giving birth. my little red wag platy had 23 babies last month and for a while i thought i would lose her. She has never recovered properly though. has developed an odd personality, has off and on bowel problems and can't gain any weight.
the other fish attack her.
mouse

maxpayne_lhp · 01-30-2005, 09:01 PM

My female gyppies at my my pond rarely dies after giving birth! And most of the maie ones are at peace. How often does a male guppy of you guys give offspring? Mine is about 3-6 months, I'm not sure