Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Differentiating between male and female bluegill

I know you are correct on the bluegill...and I THINK you are correct on the redears.

I agree on the BG. Not so sure on the RES. If the top RES is female it is the biggest one , at 10.5 inches that I have seen and that much larger than the male RES and BG male. Not sure about the color on the op. flap both orange ? CB1 and I had this dicussion before -- red on the male , orange on female .I never heard this until CB1 provided it and I later found a LA state fisheries web site that said the same thing. The underside of the top RES is lighter which makes me think female , but not much color. Isn't this fun !!! I just wish I was better at it.

I will do some checking and post what I find.

Checking :
Texas web site

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/species/sunfish/

The species' most distinct characteristic is the red edge on the opercle ("ear") flap of the male (orange on the female).

Fla. site

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=h...6lr%3D%26sa%3DN

Males and females are similar in appearance, although the male is generally more colorful.

Aub. pict.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=h...3D %26sa%3DN

U Mic.

http://images.umdl.umich.edu/cgi/i/image...start=1;resnum=

...back edge of opercular flap with red border in male, orange in female; no wavy lines on cheek 3 anal spines.

I would say both of these are male but look at color/shade difference.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=h...6lr%3D%26sa%3DN

I could be wrong, and maybe Greg will chime in, but I think the top redear is carrying eggs.

Bruce :

Does the female BG look like it has eggs to you? If the top RES is female and carrying eggs ( sure looks fat) then based on time of year so should the female BG. At 9 inches and assuming in the south the BG should be of spawning age, my guess 2 to 3 yrs old. Greg how about some more info on these 2 pairs and the location and time of year.

Carrolton, GA. I think early May 2005. Both tops are female and yes Ewest she had eggs. THis is how I knew it was female and wanted a pic to look back on. Thanks BC for posting.
I have seen a few red flaps on what I thought were females. Plenty of orange ear flaps on what I thought were males. Little easier to diff BG with some pratice.

Dear Dr. Condello,

Are you still a part-time dentist?? Your knowledge of the Centrarchidae family continues to impress me.

Aaron Klusmire

ROTFLMAO!!!

Aaron, that struck me as incredibly funny. If it was intentional, keep up the good work. If it was unintentional, you've got the gift of accidental humor, and God has Blessed those around you.

We need many, many more like that !!!!

To Aaron,

Hey, listen up buddy! I just got done working FIVE grueling hours. Don't give me a hard time!

To anyone who doesn't know Aaron, here's a sample of what his entire life is like.

Caller: Hello, My name is Mr. such-n-such. I heard you work on ponds.

Aaron: Yes I do. How can I help you?

Caller: I have a farm pond in the middle of my corn field and I have too much moss. Can you get rid of the moss and make it clear like the lake I saw in Colorado last year?

Aaron:...uh...well...

Caller: And by the way, I only have twenty dollars to spend.

Aaron: I don't think that....

Caller: And the pond is only two feet deep.

Aaron: Cht-cht-cht-chchch-cht. (That's Aaron chattering like a raccoon).

Merry Christmas,

...and a happy male bluegill.

These are from the PB article (series) by Bill , Bruce and Cecil. They are posted on another thread but this is a proper location for them.

I think I posted this before. Doesn't this female packed with eggs look like it should be a male by coloration at first glance? It came out of a stained water pond and the angler told me all the fish are darker in color in this pond.

Exemplary gravid female BG shape, Cecil.

The coloration is certainly vivid enough to seem like a mature male (which is probably why you and Bill and Bruce state that one must have a feel for the local BG population's coloration scheme before sexing them successfully). I can't see the opercule very well because she is so dark, but I notice that she has no shoulders, helmet, or breast plate the way I would expect a male BG of that large size to exhibit. So you have to consider all the evidence, don't you?

Yes you do. You have to be really careful.

Bobby Glennon a biologist for Malone and Sons told me they are very careful when culling fish by sex. He says if they can't actually get gametes from the fish (milt and eggs) they don't do any guesses no matter how educated.

I know this spring when I plant my brood gills I will be using a catheter and probing for gametes along with all the visual characteristics.

I'm not sure but I think that is illegal in several states. And you guys wonder why some Blue Gills bite your nipples. After this type of invasion to privacy I think that you are lucky that they are only biting your nipples.

I'm beginning to think that there may be something to all of those alien abducting/probing stories that you see on TV. Perhaps the aliens are just trying to be certain whether or not they are catching male or female humans. Well at least they are using catch and release practices.

And as for Bruce, I lost a lot of respect for him when he posted the photo above. Oh sure he can raise huge BG, but did he have to breed the tail right off of them. What kind of fishing sport is that???

Ok, I'll go back to my cage now.

Unless he is crossing BG with mola mola...

And what good is breeding bluegills that are permanently curved like that? I had to put each bluegill I got from Bruce in a vise to straighten them out, and super glue on a tail! Thank God as a taxidermist I have lots of spare parts!

Here's a really nice example of male scale-tipping in a young bluegill.

This even goes for chickens. Earlier this year I bought 10 one-day-old "sexlink" pullets (females) from a reputable chicken dealer. A "sexlink" is a mix between two varieties of chickens that supposedly makes sex identification very reliable. Wrong!

(In my case, these were the offspring of white rock hens and Rhode Island red roosters.)

When they hatch, foot color and feather color are supposed to reliably identify their sex. They sure all looked the same to me.



When they were about a week old, I thought that one female was kind of dominant. At about two weeks old, I thought she was kind of masculine. At about four weeks old, I introduced the young ones to my older ones. They knew -- I still wasn't sure.

At about five weeks there was no mistaking the young cockerel for a pullet. He really changed colors and markings.



Are fish much different?

At least with bluegill I get lots of practice finding out if I was right or wrong. The filet knife is a good verification device.

I would say that the fish in the photo is 99+% certain of being a male, but I wholeheartedly agree with you that you can never be absolutely sure!

And this is why I may be going to all fish cages for production for my niche market. It may have other advantages too such as no wasted energy in spawning and they won't get beat up making the beds.

Although I religiously sexed the gills this year before releasing them into the big pond, I had some bluegill reproduction in the pond albeit a very small amount. I suspect I may have missed a puddle when I drained down the pond last year and rotenoned, but I'm not 100 percent sure.

When Theo posted that female bluegill with the black scale tipping that sent a shiver up my spine!

And can we say with 100 percent certainty that there is even a remote chance that a very small percentage of bluegills could change sex or be a hermapahrodite as in other fish species?

I'm glad to know I'm not the only fish autopsy kook. For more than 50 years I've been looking way too close at fish innards, teeth, fins, scales, etc., and it isn't even my job.

If it was somebody besides Bruce or me, I'd tell them they need a new hobby and/or a therapist.

Based on your experiences Cecil, I think that it is much more likely that you or others will make a mistake in sexing BG or stocking than the chances are one will have a change sex or be a hermapahrodite! I menioned to you earlier how one managed to get out of a live box for me. Luckly I was able to fish him/her out of the pond with a piece of worm and tiny hook.

At least you're not a taxidermist!

Yep based on my luck that's for sure! Shoot you loose one out of the cage am immediately catch it again!

Interestingly not the same thing but I read in some scientific literature that polyploid bluegills are not that uncommon in a natural setting and may be why some grow so large.