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I noticed some of my opae have really big claws, others have really small claws. Can we learn something of it? Is it age related? Gender related?

I rarely pay attention to their claw size difference but if I remember correctly male claws are bigger than female ones.

Are the big claw ones in your tank more translucent too?

Translucent as in being transparant? Possibly, i would need to have a closer look again. I have around 5 mature opae ula, 2 have really big claws. One is really big and completely white, the other is a bit smaller and red/pink. I have also mature red ones without the bigger claws. And i already saw some smaller opae but also with big claws or without the big claws... So it doesn't seem to be age related.

Hmmm interesting. Would be nice to have pictures!

Big claws supposed to be females, small claws supposed to be males

@Arnold are you sure?

@Algae In Space yeah but unfortunately i don't have a good camera, it's not clear on the pictures I take... Once i have berried females, i will follow it up very closely...

Maybe you got some Metabetaeus lohena in there with the regular Opaes? Are they way bigger in size? This would explain it all

Arnold wrote: ↑02 Feb 2019 14:31 Big claws supposed to be females, small claws supposed to be males

As I don't have a macro lens I wonder how one can tell if this is true? Have you examined yours? I can't remember if there is something written on it in the holy book. What does OUR say?

Fyi i have examined thel with my eyes (but my eyes are quite good) and with a loop...

They are definetely opae, as they come out of a tank only containing opae for several years. I call the claws big but it's relatively compared to others... For some opae they are more pronounced than for others...