September Mixed Bag

Comment

Comment by Tony Livingston on December 4, 2012 at 8:08pm

Not only was this fish a female, but it' looks like a stunted, hungry female.....

I think the best indicators of sex on a RES are the color on the border of the opercular flap, males will usually be red, while females appear more orange...... the color on the breast area, males will be darker...... females may appear more "pointed" on the nose when compared to a male, although the difference is not as pronounced as on a BG..... and, the urogenital area is slightly different between the sexes, but the difference is more apparent when the females are gravid.

Comment by John Sheehan on December 4, 2012 at 7:48pm

Ha ha David, right! lol Good question JB!

Comment by JBplusThuy on September 26, 2012 at 5:35pm

Do those rules of thumb for iDing male and female BG also apply to RES and other sunfish?

Comment by David, aka, "McScruff" on September 25, 2012 at 11:05am

Grown men, comparing the urogenital opening and opercular flaps of fish. Only at BBG.com!

Love it.

Comment by Tony Livingston on September 25, 2012 at 10:14am

Yep, the small opercular flap (eartab) is a sign of a female. Shape and coloration play a part also, although by themselves they are not always reliable indicators of sex. However, when taken together with the opercular size they are strong indicators .The urogenital opening, or pore, is different between the sexes also.... this fish has a slight protusion in that area which is sometimes noticeable on females that have spawned out.

I'll see if I can find some pics detailing the two genital regions.......

Here's what I was thinking of, courtesy of PondBoss.........http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=...

Comment by Jeffrey D. Abney on September 25, 2012 at 9:03am

The first give away JB is the small ear flap....even a large mature hen will have a much smaller ear tab than her male counterparts.....

Comment by JBplusThuy on September 25, 2012 at 8:58am

Tony, how do you just look at it and know it's a female?

Comment by John Sheehan on September 25, 2012 at 7:29am

It is a weird gill.It reminds me of a Jeffrey Abner Flier!Not the color but the fin and body shape .A smaller one than this looked the same with those bands.Why and when do they develop those ,I wonder? I see it fairly often. Do they think they are Yellow Perch ?LOL!

Comment by Tony Livingston on September 25, 2012 at 7:00am

That female BG needs some food, stat!! Probably an older fish, didn't get enough to eat when it was younger.

Comment by DAVID L EITUTIS on September 25, 2012 at 5:12am

LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THE EYE ON THIS ONE!!! NICE LOOKING PIC  and very interesting geometry on this one . Look at the size of the anal fin as apposed to the tail fin. I would think that would give this one tremendous torque while turning in the water!

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