# Male greshakei holding?



## ibr3ak (Jan 4, 2008)

I know this sounds totally out of the left field, especially knowing 100% that the fish is male, but while looking at my tank today I noticed that my male m. greshakei had that extruded throat that female mbuna have when they are holding eggs and he wasn't eating which is a first, because out of all the fish he is usually the first at the surface grabbing as much food as he can.

He is also the biggest fish in my tank (an all male tank, all juvies were bought at the same size and time) and has been the most dominant until today (but still partially shows his dominance by flaring and changing color).

Anyone know what's up or have any experiences with that?

Here are a few pics of him (taken only a few days ago):


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## Gibbs (Apr 21, 2008)

How long have you had the fish for?
Is it possible that the fish has been hormoned in the past?


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## ibr3ak (Jan 4, 2008)

I've bought them all as juvies (a little smaller than an inch long) around november or december of last year so about 7 or 8 months now, as far as I know they neither looked hormoned nor does the seller imports or sells any hormoned fish.

Also, I've been watching it all night tonight and it is still the most dominant fish in the tank, which to me at least makes no sense.


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## SinisterKisses (Feb 24, 2004)

If you have a female greshakei in an all-male tank, the poor thing probably took on as many male characteristics as possible to avoid being harassed to death by all the males. Very aggressive or dominant females, especially in a group of smaller juvies, are not unheard of. But if your fish is holding eggs, then it is a female, no questions about it.


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## StngStr (Mar 1, 2006)

he doesn't look like he's holding to me...????

Are those pics current or pre-"holding"?


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## SinisterKisses (Feb 24, 2004)

OP said the fish appeared to be holding when they checked today, and the pics were taken a few days ago, so they would be pre-holding from my understanding.


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## bulldogg7 (Mar 3, 2003)

EXIF data says 6/24, but also photoshopped. Are those recent pics?
I've had a male peacock that would pick up an egg the female dropped or missed and then give it back to her, coolest thing I'd seen so far. But do you have a pic of him actually holding? It could possibly be a female.
From the pics, it doesn't appear to be holding.


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## ibr3ak (Jan 4, 2008)

No the pics are not of him/her holding they were taken 3 days before.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

SinisterKisses said:


> If you have a female greshakei in an all-male tank, the poor thing probably took on as many male characteristics as possible to avoid being harassed to death by all the males. Very aggressive or dominant females, especially in a group of smaller juvies, are not unheard of. But if your fish is holding eggs, then it is a female, no questions about it.


I agree.

And it's also possible that the fish in question may not be a pure greshakei, which could also explain the blue. :thumb:


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## ibr3ak (Jan 4, 2008)

Fair enough, I guess I'll see how it goes in the next few weeks and then return the fish to my lfs.



> And it's also possible that the fish in question may not be a pure greshakei, which could also explain the blue. :thumb:


Not sure what you mean, all greshakeis have that blue sheen, you don't see it on a more dominant fish because they are always displaying or older fish, because they seem to lose it completely and go a lighter color. When my fish shows aggression it changes to that almost white with blue stripes.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

Female greshakeis _can_ take on a blue sheen as SK suggested, but they don't hold it at all times under normal circumstances.

I raised them for a couple of years, and never saw a pure female with as much blue as that one has, but a stressed female can do strange things in an effort to fly under the radar of the other fish.

I once had a female greshakei cross breed with a fuelleborni/zebra hybrid and they produced a clutch of fry (my first, so I had a hard time culling them) that grew up to look much like this fish of yours, females and males.

It really looks like a subdominant male to me, but if it's holding, it's a female. :thumb:


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## vinman63 (Apr 28, 2008)

the fish that you posted look female to me I have a bunch of them that look just lke yours some more blue and some have a orange cast to the body. I can take som pic's if you like. Did you ever vent the fish before . or are you assuming the sex on the look . This SSp the females are very male like in looks . I have to vent mine to be sure of the sex


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## Sick-Lid-4-Life (Mar 22, 2008)

They're assuming it's a female because it's holding eggs, which wouldn't really be an assumption at that point... It's a female, regardless of color.


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## vinman63 (Apr 28, 2008)

Sick-Lid-4-Life said:


> They're assuming it's a female because it's holding eggs, which wouldn't really be an assumption at that point... It's a female, regardless of color.


 The OP thinks it is a mae holding eggs . That would be him assuming it was a male when if fact it is a female. Mpanga rep top zebras females have strong barring and a blueish cast to them


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## vinman63 (Apr 28, 2008)

here are som pic's of my females


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## ibr3ak (Jan 4, 2008)

vinman, mine definitely had alot more color, the flash of my camera just made it look kinda bland.

In any case I really appreciate everyone's feedback, I stripped the he/she and put the eggs in the tumbler just to see what comes of them and sold the fish back to my lfs.


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## vinman63 (Apr 28, 2008)

I had a lot of them, some of them had more barring,. That is a female you got and most likely a RT mapanga female


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## CICHLUDED (Aug 4, 2006)

vinman 63 said:


> I had a lot of them, some of them had more barring,. That is a female you got and most likely a RT mapanga female


The OPâ€™s fish doesnâ€™t look like my (mpanga rocks)â€¦

And neither do yoursâ€¦

Female









Male


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## vinman63 (Apr 28, 2008)

My wild mapanga and my F1 fry that I grew up did not look like yours either mine had deep red dorsals the female had ret tops too. My male was deep light blue with dark blue bars. The fish I posted are a mix of different Rt zebra and albino zebra with out the red top. I bought them for resale.


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## vinman63 (Apr 28, 2008)

I just coppied this from atlantis 









your fish is nice loking fish. Not saying it is not a mapanga it just dont look like any of the ones I had. Again this fish is varribile


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## Vtwin60 (Sep 21, 2007)

The above is what my Zebra looks like although with a bit less blue.


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