How to distinguish male and female ball fish

The ball fish is also called Mary fish. The origin of this fish is in Mexico. Its body length is usually between 8 cm and 12 cm, but it has many colors, such as red and black or silver and yellow, etc. There are also many varieties of ball fish. This fish has very high requirements for water temperature, which is usually between 18 degrees and 24 degrees. So how do you distinguish between male and female ball fish?

First, how do you tell the male and female ball fish apart? The male’s anal fin is stick-shaped, while the female’s is fan-shaped. In addition to the ball fish, the males and females of guppies, moonlight fish and Mary are also distinguished in this way. The primary sexual characteristic, which is the most fundamental difference between male and female fish, is that male fish have testes and female fish have ovaries. The testes and ovaries are both in the abdominal cavity of fish. Some fish have a small hole near the anus (located on the fish's abdomen) that is specifically used to discharge sperm or eggs, while in some fish the anus itself has a part-time function of discharging sperm or eggs. Since the testes and ovaries are all in the abdominal cavity, the primary sexual characteristics cannot be identified until the fish is cut open. Moreover, even if they are cut open, it is difficult to see any difference in appearance unless the testicles and ovaries are in the fertile period. By the way, fish sperm is white and eggs are yellow.

Second, there are three main secondary sexual characteristics of fish: one is the "pearl star". Bead stars are small dots that grow near the snout (mouth) of fish. Fish with more and more obvious pearl stars are generally male fish. Of course, this is not an absolute standard (for example, among humans, some women have thicker body hair than men, and some men may not have body hair at all. These are the uncertainties of secondary sexual characteristics). The second is body color and pattern. Like many animals in nature, male fish tend to have more gorgeous appearance than female fish. Among fish of the same type, the ones with brighter body colors and more colorful patterns are generally male fish (the same as peacocks). Finally, body shape. For most fish, females are larger than males of the same species and age. Of course, this is not absolute, and there are still some contrary examples.

How to distinguish male and female ball fish? Through the introduction of the above content, I believe everyone already knows the answer. The water temperature for raising Mary fish is 18-24℃. It likes weak alkaline hard water. The bait is mainly insects and fish, and it can also eat granular feed. The breeding water temperature is 24-26℃. There is an obvious fetal spot on the abdomen of the female fish before giving birth. Each time, 50-150 pups are born, and the number of pups is once a month. Remember to add some salt to the water for Mary fish regularly to keep the water slightly alkaline.