Mating Mandarins

[brekurboy1]

I just got a male and female mandarin. The male is exhibiting some aggressive behavior towards the female. He will raise his spine and chase the female. The female will also raise her spine but every time allow the male to chase her off. There has been no fighting. also the female is slightly larger than the male. any help will be appreciated.

[steve1s]

The female will also raise her spine but every time allow the male to chase her off.

Before I suggest anything, this part of your post has me wondering. The female does not have a dorsal spine.

Did you relay that incorrectly or do you have two males? Or are you just refering to the blunted dorsal standing up and posturing?


http://members.shaw.ca/steve-s/welcome.gif To ReefLounge.com

Cheers
Steve

[brekurboy1]

The female has a very short spine. I've read in several places and talked to many people that have all told me that the female mandarin has a shorter spine that barely grows past the rest of the first dorsal fin. Also the position of the anal fin was suggested as a way to distinguish. The fellow at the store ponted that out to me.

[brekurboy1]

And I was refering to the posturing of both fishes. they both flare their fins at eachother.

[steve1s]

If you are sure about the sexes, then it normal behavior. It would actually be normal either way.

Female/male pairs will "dance" with each other and fin display is part of the ritual. Males will do the same thing, just different reasons.

Here (http://underwaterphotos.com/article3.htm) is an article that gives some brief information as well as clear pictures of each sex.

Cheers
Steve