Average hen

Comment

Comment by Leo Nguyen on November 6, 2013 at 10:33am

Excellent recall of the thread Tony. Genetic mixing of various SF species in this crazy lake throw things off like crazy. Just more fun trying to identify them.

Comment by DAVID L EITUTIS on November 6, 2013 at 10:10am

THIS IS ABOVE AVERAGE FOR HERE IN ILLINOIS LH ......... Nice fish . You actually have to wear long sleeves there at times?!!!!!!!!!

Comment by Tony Livingston on November 6, 2013 at 10:07am

It's tough Dick.....females are usually described as having a donut shaped orifice, while males are more of a simple pore..... .BUT, as with most things lepomid there are exceptions, and the appearance of the urogenital opening can change  due to spawning, or injury.

Comment by dick tabbert on November 6, 2013 at 9:25am

Tony I really don't see the difference in the way your showing but can tell by the black scales so I'm assuming the one on the bottom is an adult male.

Comment by Tony Livingston on November 6, 2013 at 9:02am

I don't have experience with the Coppernose strain in general, and certainly not the fish found on the west coast, so I'm not a good candidate for sexing these fish. But I'm always curious when a fish displays both male and female markers, and the practice of cuckolding is well documented in BG, both Northern and Coppernose strains.

I will state that identifying males from females based on the number of orifices visible is not reliable....If it were, there would never be any question. Males and females both display the openings, and it is the shape of the urogenital opening that is sometimes used to help sex the fish. Here:

Matter of fact, here is an excellent thread on telling the difference, and it's where this photo came from. There's three pages here, and lots of photos....if you're curious at all, it's a good read.

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2...

Comment by james bluto gillette on November 6, 2013 at 7:20am

great fish

Comment by mike martinez on November 6, 2013 at 7:02am

Beautiful.....

Comment by John Sheehan on November 6, 2013 at 6:42am

What a great average ! Love when they get purple like this one!

Comment by dick tabbert on November 5, 2013 at 9:20pm

Great looking quality fish LedHed.

Comment by Jim Gronaw on November 5, 2013 at 9:05pm

I have found that there can be some  mixed traits in male and female gills, both coppers and northern strain. I would likely have labled this one a hen, especially with the smaller, shorter eartab. Then again, she has a dark, almost copper colored breast...a male thing. But it could certainly be the lighting angle.

And like you said...the lack of a pronounced forehead is indicative of a she-slab, especially in mature fish.

Great fish!

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