hi is my Sunfish a male or female?
- Thread starter fishergus
- Start date
there is only one but ok. and the stock is temporary, until i get rid of most of the fish.
oh if you put it that way yeah lol
do you have sunfish?
ok i know one is a bluegill and the other one is a green sunfish and i am getting rid of most of these fish
Bluegill is a male. As mentioned, sexing greens is difficult.
Alpha Esox
Feeder Fish
The Bluegill is a male. I find that the male of the species displays an orange breast. While the female displays a yellow to light yellow breast color. She will also have a silver with brown to tan and brown general body coloration. Her opercular flap is not as promenant in size or color as the male Bluegill. The male Bluegill has a broader body structure (more round), the size and color of opercular flap is longer, wider and darker in color. The male will display more coloration throughout its body than the female. An adult breeding/protecting male my display many shades of color in the "forehead" as well as the area around the pectoral fins. A "bull" Bluegill in addition to "forehead" coloration may also develop somewhat of a nuchal hump. Not as well defined as in some Cichlid species but gives him an imposing stature regardless.
The Green Sunfish is more difficult to determine sex. Especially as a juvenile. Your Green Sunfish looks to be of adult size and definately male. The two most notable differences between male and female Green Sunfish are size and coloration. Most females rarely exceed 4 inches while most males will exceed 4 inches with relative ease. I'm speaking to under aquarium conditions now. As for coloration, as juveniles they look the same but males will pull ahead of the pack quickly in their aggression. As a consequence they grow faster and larger. As the males come into their own they will start displaying interesting/beautiful colors. Some maybe understated while some colors may jump out at you. In general males will display a yellowish broad sides with olive green dorsally. Finnage will be edged with orange and white and looks quite stunning when showing off to a female or interloper. As is the case with Bluegill the Green Sunfish male tend to be bigger in everyway than their female counter parts. This is a general description of sexual dimorphism in Bluegill and Green Sunfish. Local populations can and will differ. Water conditions, food, population density and habitat in general can be responsible for color and size variance. Sorry I went so long. Hope it was helpful.
Turns out my green sunfish was a female :/ RIP
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