Bichir repro.    9/13/2011
How can I breed my dinosaur bichirs and how do I know if it is a male or female. What is a anal fin. Also what are good conditions to breed dinosaur bichirs. Also are they egg eaters.
Eli
<Polypterus senegalus is difficult to breed, and generally done only in farms through the use of hormones. Aquarium breeding is quite rare, but does happen. But for what it's worth, the male has a larger, thicker anal fin than the female. Compare the two, and the male is obviously different.
Males chase females about, and spawning takes place among bushy plants like Java moss. The parents offer no broodcare. Fry are small and quite difficult to rear. The full details, and LOTS of photos, are presented in "Jurassic Fishes", an excellent TFH book you MUST read if you want to breed these fish. Cheers, Neale.>

BICHIR I would just like to ask on how you can tell sex in a Bichir? thank you <Mmm, please read over the materials stored for the family (Polypteridae) posted on fishbase.org Bob Fenner>

Bichirs Breeding? 7/11/03 Hi, I have a question on how to breed Bichirs. I have two of them, one male, and one female. my question is what size tank should I use, and is there any "tricks" to get them to breed. also what water qualities should I have. any other information would be much appreciated.   Thank you           ,regrettably, I am not aware of captive commercial propagation of these fishes (naturally v. hormones). Will post on the daily FAQ page for feedback from our readers though... do check back for the next couple days by reading the FAQs. Best of luck! Anthony>

Marbled Bichir repro.   7/22/06 Hi, this is Kiel speaking and I have a breeding question. In  the near future I'm getting a 55 gallon tank, and I'm planning to try to breed my  Marbled Bichir pair. I have learned everything I need to know about  breeding them, except what size they breed at. I really need your help on  this. <Likely at eight inches (20 cm.) or so... Please see here: http://fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=2386 see the linked topics below, the reference to Baensch and Riehl?... Bob Fenner>