| aunt kymmie | 01-27-2010 01:48 PM |
Here's some info I found, not sure how helpful it is:
"Sexing African Butterfly cichlids outside the breeding period is tricky, because the two sexes look very similar. They are both of an amber color with blue spangling decorating the lateral scales between the eyes and the caudal peduncle. The dorsal fins have red and white edging, and both sexes sport a black opercular blotch and a dark cheek stripe that points forward. There is really no major difference between the sexes when it comes to finnage, a fact which makes sexing even more difficult.
There are however a few tells that can give you a clue regarding the sex of your African Butterfly cichlids. The male will for instance normally grow bigger than the female and can reach a length of 4 inches, while the female normally stays smaller than 3 inches. Mood changes can cause black blotches to show over the body in both sexes, but it is only the female that will display really intense blotches throughout the entire spawning period. The female will also show a rounded belly full of eggs just prior to spawning." | 