Sexing?
- Thread starter Demon_fish
- Start date
I have had a bunch (appr 170) bluegills since last spring. Some of them
>have reached 6-7 inches and I would like to separate them from the rest to
>try inducing them to spawn. I have found information on their breeding
>habits, but nothing on how to tell the males from the females. I would
>appreciate it if someone could direct me to a source for that information.
>Thanks.
>Dean
Hi Dean,
I did a fair bit of my thesis work on bluegills... but always in the field.
In my case, that was in Lake Opinicon, Ontario (north of Kingston). Anyway,
we never had any luck breeding bluegills in the lab and I don't think too
many other people have either. Basically, what you will find is that they
are strictly seasonal spawners, spawning in the early summer as the water
is warming somewhere around 18 to 22 oC or so. In Ontario, they stop
spawning in early July (they start in early June), and we suspect this
is because the fry need enough time to reach a certain size before the fall,
ie. spawning after early July would be a waste of effort. So, I suspect
your best bet is to try cooling down the tank for a long time (weeks, a month?)
and then raise it up again. Doing this we've got them to make nests but
never spawn.
Re sexing bluegills. Males have deeper bodies and much more color than
females. The females generally have vertical bars on them and the males
develop a deep orange breast area when they are ready to spawn. Males will
make nests in the substrate. One trick that we found was to put a line of
plants or other stuff in the tank partially blocking off about a foot of
the end of a tank. A male would then take over this end area and start
nesting. Nest making will be obvious -- the male sweeps material out of
a circular patch with his fins, particularly his tail fin.
I would be VERY INTERESTED if you do get them to spawn. Write me back if
you want more info.
-- Ron Coleman
colemanr-at-garnet.berkeley.edu
P.S. My studies were on the parental care males provide after egg-laying.
>have reached 6-7 inches and I would like to separate them from the rest to
>try inducing them to spawn. I have found information on their breeding
>habits, but nothing on how to tell the males from the females. I would
>appreciate it if someone could direct me to a source for that information.
>Thanks.
>Dean
Hi Dean,
I did a fair bit of my thesis work on bluegills... but always in the field.
In my case, that was in Lake Opinicon, Ontario (north of Kingston). Anyway,
we never had any luck breeding bluegills in the lab and I don't think too
many other people have either. Basically, what you will find is that they
are strictly seasonal spawners, spawning in the early summer as the water
is warming somewhere around 18 to 22 oC or so. In Ontario, they stop
spawning in early July (they start in early June), and we suspect this
is because the fry need enough time to reach a certain size before the fall,
ie. spawning after early July would be a waste of effort. So, I suspect
your best bet is to try cooling down the tank for a long time (weeks, a month?)
and then raise it up again. Doing this we've got them to make nests but
never spawn.
Re sexing bluegills. Males have deeper bodies and much more color than
females. The females generally have vertical bars on them and the males
develop a deep orange breast area when they are ready to spawn. Males will
make nests in the substrate. One trick that we found was to put a line of
plants or other stuff in the tank partially blocking off about a foot of
the end of a tank. A male would then take over this end area and start
nesting. Nest making will be obvious -- the male sweeps material out of
a circular patch with his fins, particularly his tail fin.
I would be VERY INTERESTED if you do get them to spawn. Write me back if
you want more info.
-- Ron Coleman
colemanr-at-garnet.berkeley.edu
P.S. My studies were on the parental care males provide after egg-laying.
Funny,"Ron Coleman" ....Ron Coleman is a champion Bodybuilder,imagine if that was him..........just being silly