Male Or Female? Help Please

Hi All

Great site, great pics of some beautiful Bettas. The pics I have seen here really blow the stock available in SE Ireland away. Anyway, 3 months ago I bought Pearl, sold to me as a female. Since then (in a 60 L tank with 1 male and 7 females) 'she' has become the largest and most aggressive, CONSTANTLY flaring fins and gills and fighting with ALL the other fish, and appears territorial. I isolated 'her' yesterday as she was getting worse, with every other fin in the tank showing damage. Pearl has never shown a protuding ovipositor. All the other females in the tank always have theirs protuding. I have only EVER seen male veiltails in all the Petshops in SE Ireland, so presumed yes, Pearl is female. I have never seen a female with fins quite her size. Some black beard is visible when 'she' flares gills. I recently saw a pic of a 'fantail' male that looks like Pearl. Can you all please, please look at the pics and tell me if you think Pearl is an aggressive female or a male? She got nipped back once so has a chunk of anal fin missing, please try to imagine the size of the fin intact.

Thanks, LEE

could be a male, could you try get a pic of her flareing? and its best not to mix males with females, maybe get a small 2 gal for the male

oh and forgot to say he/she is gorgeous

Id say thats a male. Ive never seen a female like that.
And I agree with the post above, its not the best idea to keep males with females, some people can do it and it be ok but it is very risky.

I'd say female, probably just the alpha female, I've had girls with fins that long before who were definatly girls. She just doesn't look like a boy to me *shrug* and I agree with everyone else, its a BAD idea to keep males and females together unless your intent is to breed them.

On the black beard alone I would say male. But without a flaring picture, its anyones guess.
Grab a pic and we will be able to help more.

He/She is gorgeous though

MaddieJ said:

On the black beard alone I would say male. But without a flaring picture, its anyones guess.

Click to expand...

thats what made me think male, but a pic flaring would mean a certain identity

Thanks for the replies so far everyone. I need to determine Pearls sex soon, so as to re-release her to females or divide the tank. The breeding trap she/he is in is very small. I will try my best to get a flaring pic over the weekend, check back.
Thanks
LEE

Males and females when flaring both have a "beard" the males have an extra layer of skin underneath the first "beard"

the ventrals look female, is there an ovipositor? Also I agree, males and males should only be kept together for breeding, is there a reason the male is in with them?

think you mean males and females zoe

id say male becuase in the pic on the left you can clearly see the frill and it is long.Im guessing male but could be wrong.

I dunno... I would have to say male. Even though I own a female with long fins, your lil betta just seems to be male to me.
If there is no ovipostir then most probably a male.

He/she is absolutely gorgeous though.

Hi all
Thanks for replies so far. After 121 pics I finally got some Pearl beard. Any opinions would be valued. I split my tank in 3 over the weekend, and separated Pearl, Inigo my veiltail male and the quiet 5 females. Since then Pearl flares them all through the canvas and her own reflection (like a male). The females have been jumping over to Inigos section and if 2 females make it at the same time they fight each other quite fiercely. I think they all have the hots for Inigo now that he has his own space. I have 5 ripped up females now. Higher dividers will be made tonight!

So attached are some pics of Pearl flaring his/her beard. Please let me know your opinion.

that is definatly a male.

yep its a male, i'm supprised he got on with your other male, very pretty lil guy