Ternetia is a rather unpretentious aquarium fish, even a layman in the aquarium industry can cope with. Some difficulties may arise with the breeding of these pets, or rather, with how to distinguish between male thorns and females. However, to do this, it is necessary to have an idea of the general appearance of this breed.
Appearance
Ternetia (also known as mourning tetra or black tetra) is a small aquarium fish with a maximum size of 5.5–6 centimeters. Their body shape is diamond-shaped, slightly flattened laterally. The color is silver, there are vertical black stripes near the head.
In case of fright, stress or other shock, the fish change color from silver-black to lighter, almost sand. In general, the coloring of thorns may vary depending on the conditions of detention: the worse they are, the duller and inexpressive the color will be.
How to determine the gender?
Despite the fact that at first glance, individuals of both sexes of this breed look almost identical, if you look closely, you can find the differences that will help distinguish them.
- First, the size: the female is always slightly larger than the male. If it is difficult to determine which fish is larger through the glass of the aquarium, then look at the back from above: the female will be wider, and the male, accordingly, more “flattened”.
- Secondly, the color scheme. The color of the male is much more pronounced, the stripes near the head are more distinct, and black color prevails on the body. This is especially true for the tail in adult individuals: it retains the rich black hue characteristic of young fish. The tail fin is transparent, but in males there is a white border that is not present in females.If we talk about the stripes on the body of the female, then their borders seem a little blurred.
Difficulties in determining gender by color can arise if you have acquired any of the color varieties - the so-called caramels.
They have a very bright unnatural color, which makes it harder to determine the outline of the pattern and the floor of the fish.
In this case, knowledge about the differences between the fins of the male and female individuals will help. The dorsal fin of the male is sharper and longer; in the female, it can be wider and much smoother. The anal fin of the “boy” is larger; closer to the tail, it narrows. In the "girl", it is wider and resembles a kind of skirt, which remains the same width from the beginning of the fin to the base of the tail.
Varieties of color
In connection with the fact that the “caramel” thorns were mentioned, it is necessary to consider other varieties of the tetra breed.
Veil thornsia - differs from the usual mourning tetra in large fins (anal and tail), which resemble a black veil fluttering in the wind. Hence the name. The sex of this breed can be determined by size, since the female will be much larger than the male, and her fins will be much larger, and in color, which will be almost the same as that of a regular black tetra.
In albinos, on the contrary, difficulties in determining the male and the female may arise due to the unusual color, but by the fins it will become clear which individual belongs to which sex.
Caramels come in two forms. The first is genetically modified, which artificially implant the DNA of coral, jellyfish or other creatures, and therefore the color becomes closer to the animal whose DNA was used. They are also easy to maintain, hardy and can pass on their unusual color by inheritance.
The second type of “caramel” is fish, whose color has changed due to chemical injections.
Such individuals are very painful and do not tolerate changing conditions.
Their life expectancy is shorter than that of individuals that were not subject to chemical injections, and over time their color becomes more dull. Due to the unusual coloring, it becomes possible to find out the sex of a fish only by its size and shape of its fins.
On how to easily distinguish a male of thorns, see further
