How to sex a bluegill?

AVANC

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 5, 2008
6
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0
100 miles from anywhere,Oregon
So does anybody out there know how to tell the difference? I have two, ones about four inches, the other is a little smaller. they look identical but the smaller one is much more aggressive. i experimented a bit and made an area of gravel look like the nests they build at pond edges, the smaller one immediately moved in and started guarding it but I'm not sure if the males or females guard the nests. Any ideas?
 

MultispeciesTamer

Piranha
MFK Member
Nov 13, 2008
2,361
39
81
Michigan
i would think that they are probly to small to tell, there are still ways but i dont know them. but iam no expert on breeding them. males are userly the ones on the nest, but there have to be certin changes in order to get them to exibit spawning behavior, like if the tank gets cold for a while like winter, then slowly warms like spring. this should signal a change.
 

le patron

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 4, 2008
2,465
0
0
USA
my bluegill is a beatiful male at 4" got him when he was 1" a little over a year ago. males have brown or orangish bellies while females are less colorful. mine started to develop his belly color around 4 months after i first got him(about 2.5")
also, males guard nests, not females. they lay eggs and then leave the nest for good
 

Gator

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Aug 10, 2007
1,192
5
68
Ohio
sites.google.com
They should be large enough to Vent. Look under the fish both fish have two openings. the one closest to the head is the anus the other is the genital opening. With males both openings are the same size, with females the genital opening is larger than the anus. Of course breeding season is the best time to tell when the males are colored up.
 

Venom SS

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Aug 14, 2008
1,429
10
38
Texas
Last time I tried to sex a bluegill it gave me ich...oh that wasnt a bluegill..nevermind...:WHOA:
 
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