Sexing and Pairing Dart & Firefish

[ThRoewer]

My local store got a shipment of African Purple/Exquisite Firefish (Nemateleotris exquisita) in and I decided to give pairing these guys a shot. I was able to pick a male and a female based on their genital papilla and It seems to have worked as they paired up almost instantly:





After this worked out I tried the same a week later with the Yellow Head Helfrichi Firefish (Nemateleotris sp. aff. helfrichi) the store had as well and it worked out well again:








I may try the same with the "regular" Firefish (Nemateleotris magnifica) and the Purple Firefish (Nemateleotris decora) at some point but it seems that a male and a female will get along.
Sexing these guys is a bit tricky as you need to be able to see their genital papilla and they usually retract it when stressed out or starved. It also helps if the fish are in individual tanks or containers.

The next step will be to get them to spawn...

 

[ThRoewer]

A fairly good picture of a female I was able to find:

The genital papilla of females is thick, conical, and has a dull, rounded point:

​

A halfway decent picture of a male I could find:

The genital papilla of males is more shaped like you would expect from a male genital, thin, barely conical, and has a relatively sharp point:

 

[ThRoewer]

Knowledge test: what's the sex of this hybrid?

 

[Sosuke]

Wow! Thanks for the knowledge on sexing these fish! I wanna say that ones a male.

 

[secret_reefer337]

This is nice. Was thinking of having a pair and hopefully will be able to figure it out when purchasing mine.

My guess...a male.

 

[ThRoewer]

This is nice. Was thinking of having a pair and hopefully will be able to figure it out when purchasing mine.

My guess...a male.

Correct.
My tip to sex them at the store: bring a magnification glass and a strong LED flashlight.

 

[secret_reefer337]

Correct.
My tip to sex them at the store: bring a magnification glass and a strong LED flashlight.

That definitely I will do. Thanks for sharing!

 

[reeferdugong]

is my fire fish a male?

 

[ThRoewer]

is my fire fish a male?

Most likely female

 

[Zakery Murray]

Question for you, does your store ship, or would you be able to pair of helfrichi firefish for me? I would buy it from you if you could.

 

[ThRoewer]

A little warning: it seems firefish pairs can get really murderous against other cave dwelling fish. Last weekend I found all the Pseudochromis I had with my N. exqusita pair dead. A disease is rather unlikely as the firefish are perfectly fine. It seems they just wanted the tank all for themselves...

 

[laverda]

A fairly good picture of a female I was able to find:

The genital papilla of females is thick, conical, and has a dull, rounded point:

​

A halfway decent picture of a male I could find:

The genital papilla of males is more shaped like you would expect from a male genital, thin, barely conical, and has a relatively sharp point:

Good info. I have always kept small groups and let them figure it out.

 

[ThRoewer]

Good info. I have always kept small groups and let them figure it out.

That gets pricey quickly and doesn't guarantee success as the ones you find at stores may not have an even distribution of males and females.

 

[laverda]

All I ever see around here are the common ones so not to pricy. Plus I am buying for my display not a brood stock. If I find a few purple at least I know how to sex them now.
My pair of flame hawks spawned for the first time a couple nights ago. I did not video as I did not want to interrupt them. This pic was 2 nights before I believe.

 

[ultraArcite]

The next step will be to get them to spawn...

If you succeed I would be interested in buying one of their babies! We love how they look but can't find any captive-bred ones Dx

 

[Alaeriel]

If you succeed I would be interested in buying one of their babies! We love how they look but can't find any captive-bred ones Dx

So far, I don't believe anyone has been successful in rearing fry. I've seen about three anecdotes on breeding forums where anyone was even successful in getting them to spawn. Definitely looking forward to following OP's journey!

 

[Quicklynx]

Just curious for an update if you were ever able to get them to spawn?

Thank you