[phillum]

Hi,

I got a group of 3 C moorii blue dolphins and the owner said claimed they were all female but just recently these 3 dolphins got really dark and started circling around each other all 3 trying to mate. Pictures 5 and 6 are the other 2 females. Saw this dolphin pictures 1, 2,3, and 4 its anal fin looked more pointy and slightly longer past the tail fin. Would this one be a male then? I had another male and his was way longer and more pointy very obvious but not really this one. I read females can also breed drop eggs without males present to fertilize the eggs? Any help would be appreciated thanks.

 

[phillum]

also if it is a male it is the smallest of the 3 in length surprisingly but it is very plump looking. I thought males would be alot bigger than females at the same age?

 

[Mr Chromedome]

Well, the first fish is definitely a male. I had a trio back in 1977, and the male was slightly smaller than the females, so I don't think that's going to matter.

 

[DJRansome]

The only place I saw that females are significantly smaller than males was the CF article. Cichlidae did not mention a size difference.

 

[phillum]

here is a better pic of the first female and 3 pics of a third female dolphin.

Ok good to know i have one male in the group. Looking to breed these and he gets along very well with female number one the lightest colored one. My first group batch i randomly picked the dolphins and ended up with the opposite 3 males and 1 female. Found it harder to get find females than males. Most articles suggested 3 females to one male. Good to know males can be smaller than the females i was told males usually are and have to be bigger so i had bought bigger dolphin males for them to be able to breed but none of the bigger males seem interested in breeding and then i saw this happen with these 3.