My snaggletooth silver

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Crustman

Gambusia
MFK Member
Nov 20, 2006
618
14
18
Mobile, Alabama
He is starting to look like a bulldog. Do you think he is a male? Just a little over a year old. Silvers deserve more praise and can stand up to other more colorful aros in their own right. The scales have a pearly irridescence with multiple colors that is difficult to capture through the lens. I especially like the head scalation. Enjoy!

snaggletooth.jpg

snaggletoothfrontal.jpg

snaggletooth2.jpg
 
I say that PLJ is a sign of a male. When I was younger I practiced taxidermy along side the owner of the shop during the summer. We focused on fish, and primarily trout. In the trout species, (by no means related to any arowana species) the males have a more "pointed" head, and the lower jaw during mating season gets a sort of ball on the end. In salmon, that's called the kype. Only the males develope the PLJ. The females have a more rounded head, shorter snout and unless a defect, never a PLJ.

I've seen enough pictures of arowanas (silvers, black, asian, lei and jars) to be of the belief that the PLJ defect is actually just a sign of a male fish. If you look around for pics, you'll see both head shapes exist and in strikingly similar quantities.

I for one love PLJ and my aro has a very pronounced lower jaw with big barbels. Maybe it's from fishing for trout. Usually, the bigger males during mating season are just more attractive.

To each his own. Nice fish. I know what you mean about the colors too. You can't show someone a picture of a nicely colored silver. It just doesn't do them justice.

edit. one final thought on the PLJ. Has anyone ever considered that the PLJ may assist the males in scooping up eggs to brood?
 
wizzin;1398837; said:
I say that PLJ is a sign of a male. When I was younger I practiced taxidermy along side the owner of the shop during the summer. We focused on fish, and primarily trout. In the trout species, (by no means related to any arowana species) the males have a more "pointed" head, and the lower jaw during mating season gets a sort of ball on the end. In salmon, that's called the kype. Only the males develope the PLJ. The females have a more rounded head, shorter snout and unless a defect, never a PLJ.

I've seen enough pictures of arowanas (silvers, black, asian, lei and jars) to be of the belief that the PLJ defect is actually just a sign of a male fish. If you look around for pics, you'll see both head shapes exist and in strikingly similar quantities.

I for one love PLJ and my aro has a very pronounced lower jaw with big barbels. Maybe it's from fishing for trout. Usually, the bigger males during mating season are just more attractive.

To each his own. Nice fish. I know what you mean about the colors too. You can't show someone a picture of a nicely colored silver. It just doesn't do them justice.

edit. one final thought on the PLJ. Has anyone ever considered that the PLJ may assist the males in scooping up eggs to brood?
Click to expand...

i remember this being discussed before and peoples opinions seem to be split. some believe this is true and others think it to be BS. i have read in several places that silvers do not have any visual differences between genders. i guess let's see what others think. :popcorn:
 
Untill we have more confirmed males and females to compare, most all is still speculation. You can read my opinions and observations in the following thread sexing the silver arowana

Crustman you have a very good looking silver there. One observation like my precieved male the distance between the pelvic and anal fins seems closer then 20"+ silvers with out the extending larger lower jaw. So with the observation of the fins and the jaw, yours shows the same traits as mine that I believe is a male.

One other thing do you have a shot of the tail? I have read that the tail shapes are also different, something that is appearent between my two silver aros.
 
Thanks everyone. The PLJ did not start showing up til he was about 16-18 inches long. I bought him at about 6 inches long on 11/22/06. Thats his good eye; the other one really drops :D.
 
I hate to say this but if he dies, I will take a scalpel and open him up. It is easy to sex fish once the gonads have started to mature. The testes should be white, solid and flat while the ovary will be orange, cylindrical with a central lumen. Does anyone know the size of silvers when the reproductive organs are distinguishable.
 
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