sexing an opaline gourami

I think that it might be female. I have 3 ( a male 3-spot and 2 female opalines ) and the males dorsal fin extends past the base of the tail, where the females do not. (That is, unless it's only a 2" fish or so - the difference was less pronounced when they were smaller).

I'd also like to point out that their coloring and patterns change quite a bit when in breeding condition. When trying to breed, the male's 3 spot pattern changes into a different shade of blue with an opaline type pattern. The females just change color, but I think if they were 3-spots the spots would also disappear on them.
 
Idk, I have one just like yours. That one looks like it's had a rough time.
 
Lupin said:
As far as I can recall, there are only a few variations that exist.
1. Blue three-spot-A gourami with four posts does exist but rarely found. Why it is called three-spot is because of the two spots found at the center of the body and the caudal peduncle. The third spot is the eye.
2. Blue opaline or Cosby (okay, your fish is now confirmed as opaline, you can thank my confusion afterwards but I will still try to stick to the term "blue gourami" no matter how many names they will be called)-To explain this one, the gourami has wavy lines etched on the body.
3. Gold-yellow coloration

This reminds me. I did notice out of the hundreds of this gourami I caught a few years back during the flooding in my village, some did have wavy markings but I never inclined showing interest in the differences as much as I do with other fish to be honest.:)
Click to expand...

Where do you live thats called a "village"
 
it is about 4 inches. it has suffered but hopefully that part of his life is behind him. not sure if it is male or female since the fin sorta falls between the descriptions.
 
This is my blue opaline gourami, and how yours should look in the future:)

So accordint to this thread this one would be female?
 
sorry forgot to attach the pic in last response

IMG_0150.JPG
 
yeah thats a female, but mine is more pointed and a little longer so thats why im not sure what it is. yours is very nice, hope mine has the capability to look like that. i have been feeding mine a lot today so he/she will get fat. its been starving for weeks now. it's getting along with all the fish and even steals food out of the prochilodus' mouth. he is moving around more and isnt hiding in the corner like when i first introduced it to the tank.
 
Im not sure that constant feeding is a great idea, it may cause other health problems. It seems to me that a fish that has been deprived of food might overindulge if the food is available. Some fish, from my understanding will eat until theu die, so I would feed twice a day, and in normal amounts so that he gets the extra nutrition he needs but not too much. I am a huge gourami fan, and I commend and even thank you for removing that little guy from the cess pool is sounds like he was living in.:) :headbang2::grinyes:
 
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