The Puffer Forum

How can you tell if your puffer is a male or a female? i've heard that if the body is more slender built it is a male, and if it has a more chubby structure it is a female ?

i kinda think mine is a male it has a more slender structure and the head is really big compared to his body, looks like a pitbull lol

Most puffers, Fahakas included, do not show any sexual dimorphism - the sexes are no different in appearance. Females may spontaneously lay eggs in later life, but short of placing two fish in a tank and seeing if they mate, there is no other sure way to tell with these fish.

The only species I know of off the top of my head who show differences between the sexes are C. irrubesco, C. lorteti and C. travancoricus. See the puffer list for pics and details.

I have a fahaka and 3 friends that also has fahakas, I tried comparing the difference between them. I noticed that either they have a round body and short head, or a more elongated body and bigger head. Does anyone else notice this? Wonder if these are clues of determining the sex.

All the same age?
Body shapes / proportions change with age and, I suspect, feeding practises.

When my female filled with eggs, it was obvious and different from post-feeding belly bulges. When she had dumped the infertile eggs, I could not tell her apart from the others physically - other than the fact that they were in separate tanks most of the time so that I knew who was who..

Someone posted a vid of their fahaka releasing a cascade of eggs on the old forum.
I guess if you see that happening there'll be no doubt she's an Martha rather than an Arthur. Although not seeing it doesn't mean it's a guy. Probably. Maybe.
Damn..I wish I knew what Robert and Mags were, but being F8s, I never will.
Pami.

We all got it at the same time, but not too sure about the age of the puffers. but they were all about 6 inches when we got them. Our feeding habits is probably different, but we only feed them lobster and clams.

female

Pamela wrote:Someone posted a vid of their fahaka releasing a cascade of eggs on the old forum.
I guess if you see that happening there'll be no doubt she's an Martha rather than an Arthur. Although not seeing it doesn't mean it's a guy. Probably. Maybe.
Damn..I wish I knew what Robert and Mags were, but being F8s, I never will.
Pami.

That was my video. I can try to send it to someone if they would like to host it again for me....My fish is only 3 years old so I dont think it takes too long to reach sexual maturity compared to the life expectancy of these fish....

FahakaFreak!

Agree w/FahakaFreak on the timing to sexual maturity for these fish. Under optimum conditions, none of them should require more than 3 years, most no more than two, to reach sexual maturity.

Unfortunately, our fish are not always in optimum conditions. That is not always the kishkeepers fault, as we do always have all the info that we need.

That video clip would be great - how big is it? If it's not too large, I can probably host it for you. I'm interested in sexing my fahaka, as well.

Let me know!