Does anyone know if this is a male or female Bangaii Cardinal?

[hannwalker]

I had a mated pair of these Bangaii (male carried eggs twice), until recently when I discovered the "bad" crab, which I was able to capture with help on this forum. The crab is gone and no other fish have gone missing since then. Unfortunately, the mate of this Bangaii was one of the fatalities of the crab. I am trying to find another mate for it, but unsure of the gender of the one that I have left. Any help would be appreciated as I have read that putting 2 males together will end up in fighting.

 

[Greg Hiller]

No way to tell.

 

[hannwalker]

I probably shouldn't take any chances on getting the wrong gender, it seems to be doing fine by itself now. It's been almost 2 weeks.

 

[Sapooloo]

better safe than sorry

 

[BEReefer]

I have read that there is a slight difference with the jaw line and an experence person can sometime tell the difference. Good luck, I have two in separate tanks and would love to find them mates (I beleive mine are both males).

 

[Royalty]

I also was wondering the same question? I had a pair tank breed that I bought from Michelle out in barre MA great personality you should contact her reguarding your question shes been breeding cardinals for a long time, I unfortunately lost both of beautiful cardinals due to my tank crash a couple months ago I recently bought another one from a member it was 3 inch big huge more like cause it makes my other guy in the tank look small. I've wanting to add another one to have a pair again but I don't know the differences either?

 

[sephly]

Taken from another forum i am a member of


Excerpt from Frank Marini January 31st, 1999 on #reefs IRC (This was a chat client before forums were popular)

He's an expert breeder. I think it's funny he was mis-spelling Bangaii

Quote:
This is the most asked question I receive, and the one question I cannot answer fully. Even though I have seen over 300 banggaiԳ I am only 50/50 on juvenile animals (animals under 1-1.5inches SVL). When the animals reach sexual maturity (12-14 months), then the jawline takes on a characteristic structure, particularly the male which gets squared off. The second dorsal fin is an excellent characteristic, as the males second dorsal extends past the caudal peduncle, however this flowing fin is often nipped off by other fish. The most accurate sexing method: My best method of sexing banggaiճ is using my establish male [the original male banggai from the article]. I introduce another banggai into his tank and within 10 mins he either is trying to kill him (male) or trying to mate with it (female)...HE IS 100% ACCURATE!!! I have sexed many friends banggai this way. Alternatively you can buy 4 or 5 banggais allow then to reach sexual maturity and they will pair off, and please, please, return the unpaired banggais.