Breeding Tail Spot Blennies information ???

[TJL]

Have what I now know as fact to be a female Tail-Spot Blenny (Ecsenius stigmatura) that recently laid a nice batch of eggs onto side of aquarium next to overflow. there is no matching male present but do have what I believe to ba a male E. bicolor that tollerates her fairly well. My questions are; is there anyone having success with these Blennies, and is there a difinitive way of sexing them that I might find/purchase a male to get a breeding pair (fingers crossed). Unfortunately my two Wrasses and Mama Clown were in there eating them almost as fast as she could lay. She wasn't overly agitated by this or not nearly as much as I. Any information would greatly be appreciated as would be willing to invest the time neccessary to give it a go.

Now for a few horible pics taken in haste with a point-n-shoot.

Cheers, Todd

 

[IPisces]

That would be soooo cool if you could raise those. They are just the cutest. That was one of the first fish I had to have. I'd like to know how to sex them too.

 

[TJL]

Yes, one of my favorite reef safe fishes as well and am more than willing to try my hand at breeding them if feasible. Gender identification will be a major hurdle it seems though. Since I'll be setting up the new system shortly am thinking on adding a couple more and crossing my fingers to end up with a pair. I personally don’t have experience with more than one in the same tank at a time so don’t really know what to expect. She is very peaceful in temperament but holds her ground well when my Kole Tang tries to bully.

Cheers, Todd

 

[estanoche]

you could setup a clear divider in your tank, and add a new possible male to 1/2 the tank, with your blenny on the other, and observe their actions through the glass - if she is laying eggs she "should" be either very territorial, or very welcoming, to the appropriate intruder .......................

 

[TJL]

Thanks Joanne, great idea to see what kind of reaction I'm likely to get. I used to do similar with my Double-Tail Bettas before pairing, although much easier in small plastic cubes.

Cheers, Todd

 

[cmpenney]

If the male wasn't present at the time of laying then the eggs are almost certainly not fertilized so you didn't loose much watching the turn into fish food. But the fact that she is laying without a mate means she is willing and more than likely will take a mate readily. Currently this species is classified in the MBI: Search MBI Reports but to date no reports have been submitted against it so it would be very cool if you could get a successful & viable spawn out of her.

I did a little bit of poking around and from what I've been able to find the males will have small filaments on the top and bottom of the tail that is not present in the female.

Hope that helps.

Chad Penney
-----
MBI Council

 

[IPisces]

If the male wasn't present at the time of laying then the eggs are almost certainly not fertilized so you didn't loose much watching the turn into fish food. But the fact that she is laying without a mate means she is willing and more than likely will take a mate readily. Currently this species is classified in the MBI: Search MBI Reports but to date no reports have been submitted against it so it would be very cool if you could get a successful & viable spawn out of her.

I did a little bit of poking around and from what I've been able to find the males will have small filaments on the top and bottom of the tail that is not present in the female.

Hope that helps.

Chad Penney
-----
MBI Council

Well, we will have to check out my tail spot blennie and see if we can tell if it has the filiments on his tail.
Chad, do you have a link to some info on this, so we know what to look for?
Maybe you can borrow mine, Todd, if it turns out to be male!