Tygercat

Hi,
I have 3 Jack Dempseys, had them for about 2 years now...I have always believed that I have 1 male and 2 females. The supposed male is a very brilliant jewel colour all over, where as the 2 supposed females are lesser in colour with a greyer under belly...
But lately I have been questioning it. My 2 "females" have 2 very prominent black spots, one in the middle of the body and one at the end by the tail. My "male" does not have the one in the middle of the body, but has a very faint one by the tail.
My "male" is extremely dominent, and persistently harasses my middle sized "female", to the point where she hides in a log 90% of the time. My smallest "female" gets no love from either.
Is there different types of Jack Dempseys or is it a male/female thing? Am I right in my judgement of my male/females?
Any input would be greatly appreciated!!
Cat

Lucy

Hi welcome to Fish Lore

I hope you don't mind, I moved your thread to a more appropriate forum.
Our members have a wide range of knowledge, I'm sure someone will be able to help you.

We love pics, hope you post some soon.

capekate

hi Cat
without photos its hard to say which is which gender. But from what you have described I would say you have it right. Not sure if its a way to tell gender but my female also has a black spot on the side of her body and at the tail, but the male does not.
So if that is any indication of the gender of yours, you may be right in guessing the females from the male.

Tygercat

Thank you very much...I thought I knew my fish, but second guessing was leaving me frustrated! Nice to know someone else thought the same!

FL CommunityFans

Post some pics if you can. The males also have a longer/tipped dorsal fin at the end and the female has a much more rounded end to the dorsal fin. There is a very noticeable difference. Another way of discerning which is which is the coloring of the cheeks, but that can be hard when they don't color up fully.

Shaina

As others have said, it's hard to tell without pictures. Especially since, like many cichlids (and some other fish), their overall base color can change drastically based on their social standing, so the more colorful one could just be the "dominant" male. Based on your description, I would say you are right though

Tygercat

Thnak you for all your help, I will add picks soon as I can gte the fish to stand still long enough! LOL But I noticed mention of an electric blue Jack Dempsey...What is that compared to others? You think I would know a little more after being raised with fish...lol

Shaina

Electric blue is a color form from a recessive gene. Blue Gene Jack Dempseys are heterozygous for that blue gene, but look like regular JDs. Electric Blue Jack Dempseys are homozygous for that gene, and their blue is much much more pronounced than a regular JD.

There is also a gold form. If you look on the Jack Dempsey pic thread, I think there are pics of both. Markm0723 has some of the only gold JDs I can think of on the forum, but there are a couple with people with the blues.

AlyeskaGirl

Mature males have less spots on their gill plate, they dont run all the way down under the chin and has a pointy dorsal and anal fin. As the female has spots that run all the way down the gill plate and their dorsal and anal fin are rounded.