sexing Blue Spot Jawfish

[foreverfortune]

i just purchased a blue spot jawfish the other day. i made him a diy home but i guess he decided that he was a better builder than i am so he dug out his own, beside mine.
have had no troubles with the introduction, i just dropped him in and he started making his home within 10 min, and readily ate when i feed the tank.
he is so neat that i am already thinking of finding him/her a mate. only problem is i cant really find any real info on how to tell male/female apart. have read some info saying males have bigger head, have 2 dark spots around the head. and 2 males will fight. the only sure way to sex is durring mating when male goes through a color change. but i need to find a pair before i can even see the color change.

heres some pics of mine dont know if male ore female. anyone have any links that may help? thanks

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f23/foreverfortune/IMG_3468.jpg
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f23/foreverfortune/IMG_3469.jpg
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f23/foreverfortune/IMG_3472.jpg
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f23/foreverfortune/IMG_3473.jpg
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f23/foreverfortune/IMG_3476.jpg
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f23/foreverfortune/IMG_3477.jpg

[Chaloupa]

I don't know how to sex them sorry, but make sure you have a very very very secure, fully covered top on the tank...they can and will get out of even the smallest area that is left open. Good luck, they are awesome fish!

[foreverfortune]

I don't know how to sex them sorry, but make sure you have a very very very secure, fully covered top on the tank...they can and will get out of even the smallest area that is left open. Good luck, they are awesome fish!

yes thanks, i have my canopy glassed and egg crated in, have read that they are nortorious for carpet surfing.

[Chaloupa]

Yep, notorious is an understatement! My friends tank was completely covered in glass with a very small opening at the back that was double egg-crated and after a few months out it jumped.

[nanoreefer]

iam not sure what size tank you have but if its over 4' i would say just get another one if you like, and they will take oposite sides of the tank, even if there a pair they wont stay in the same hole mabie just afew inches apart but aside from mateing they wont do much as a "pair",

and egg crate wont keep them in

off topic but did you get it at J&L? i was looking at the ones they had sure wish i could afford one:mrgreen:

[foreverfortune]

iam not sure what size tank you have but if its over 4' i would say just get another one if you like, and they will take oposite sides of the tank, even if there a pair they wont stay in the same hole mabie just afew inches apart but aside from mateing they wont do much as a "pair",

and egg crate wont keep them in

off topic but did you get it at J&L? i was looking at the ones they had sure wish i could afford one:mrgreen:

yes this one came from J&L, was told there were 2 but one sold before i bought the second one.

[Pan]

yes this one came from J&L, was told there were 2 but one sold before i bought the second one.
Even if they don't pair up the antics of two jawfish in a tank is priceless. That being said I had a really big tank when i did this. Jawfish can and will kill each other if they feel threatened.

[mseepman]

What a beautiful fish. This is one that I would love to have but I already have enough problems with fish carpet (or hardwood) surfing.

[tang daddy]

Wow man looks like your fish settled right in.... You must have the magic touch!

I am planning to put one in my new 50g set up however I want to wait a year keep us posted on the pics.

And btw the acropora just to the left above his burrow is that a robins egg stag?

[foreverfortune]

Wow man looks like your fish settled right in.... You must have the magic touch!

I am planning to put one in my new 50g set up however I want to wait a year keep us posted on the pics.

And btw the acropora just to the left above his burrow is that a robins egg stag?



yea that is the robin's egg, it has gotten a little darker than i like but should lighten up when i get my zeo dosing down.

[Delphinus]

I don't have any links handy, sorry, but I remember reading something about the shape of the "pupil" can be used to distinguish M/F at least in yellow-headed jawfish. Something like it's more round in one and more sesame seed shaped in another ... but I'm afraid that's all I remember, sorry :redface: (Might be something you can do some searches on, if nothing else)

[tang daddy]

You should keep the robins egg up top as that one loves light!!

[foreverfortune]

I don't have any links handy, sorry, but I remember reading something about the shape of the "pupil" can be used to distinguish M/F at least in yellow-headed jawfish. Something like it's more round in one and more sesame seed shaped in another ... but I'm afraid that's all I remember, sorry :redface: (Might be something you can do some searches on, if nothing else)

thanks, haven't read that anywhere yet, i will for sure try to google that.


You should keep the robins egg up top as that one loves light!!
i will keep that i mind, i still have my frags from both my coral master and fragalot orders sitting on my sand bed waiting for them to color up more, so i know where i would want them placed according to colors.

[howdy20012002]

just to reconfirm that eggcrate is not enough. You should cover it at least with gutter guard over the eggcrate.
I have sadly killed a few blue spotted jawfish because I underestimated their ability to escape.
I just found one last week dried out on the ground and I have eggcrate with gutterguard over the tank. I had him for over a year...figured that I had finally figured out a way to keep it alive. I was sadly mistaken
I still don't know how it escaped.
good luck.
they are awesome fish to have...great character.
Neal

[foreverfortune]

thanks for the recommendations, seems that egg crate alone is not enough, i will now try to find some sort of mesh materials to cover the egg crates with.

my little bugger has decided that my home is now better than his heheh. he is now using my diy tunneling thanks to the jawfish home thread on here.

[Snaz]

Great looking fish, more pics please!

[ElGuappo]

Jawfish are great jumpers. had mine in a RSM. very nice fish. i saw the thread on diy jawfish homes and wondered if it works. i didnt think so. some may take them, but eventally i think all would leave them. my pearly was called "dozer" because he was such a workhorse. he nver stopped working on his home. i think they must get bored when there is no house work to be done. IMO these fish need something to do.

http://i442.photobucket.com/albums/qq145/ElGuappo78/JawfishHome3.jpg

http://i442.photobucket.com/albums/qq145/ElGuappo78/JawfishHome2.jpg

[foreverfortune]

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f23/foreverfortune/IMG_3493.jpg
this is after lights out! thats the funniest thing i've experience with any fish! i dont even know how he managed to do that, behind that is 1" tubing i would have thought the hole size would have made everything fall through.