Im Doubting The Gender Of This 'girl'

[MewMew42]

I saw what I thought to be a female betta in one of the sumps at work, she was all on her lonesome so I took her home

now shes either VERY aggressive or a male.....

we've never had males in that system at all..they are always separate...unless one snuck in from a batch of females

help me determine the gender please! He/she is in the bag still flaring at everything =[

now I can see an ovipositer [or whatever its called lol] but Ive also heard that its not always true to gender

best flaring pic I could get, is it classed as a beard?

 

[-Rob-]

thats how my pk male was when i got him as a her, small "beard" and the egg spot, hes deffo a male though and id say your "female" may also be a male too

very nice fish too

 

[aly_starh]

i think its a male too

 

[loraxchick]

100% male. females do not have gill filaments like that. the beard is obvious. she's a he
handsome guy
cheers

 

[MewMew42]

Ive had conflicting views on this from diff forums

he/she will have to stay in the trap for now!

 

[Haych]

It is hard to say - the ventricals are small, and has a slight ovi thingy - but I personally would say the shape and tail makes a young male PK.

100% male. females do not have gill filaments like that. the beard is obvious. she's a he
handsome guy
cheers

some of my girls have a massive beard - should see them flare!

 

[loraxchick]

also by the shape of anal fin and pctorals. beard's a giveaway. young males can have ovi. spot.
cheers

 

[Haych]

also by the shape of anal fin and pctorals. beard's a giveaway. young males can have ovi. spot.
cheers

yep - which is why I said a male - this is where many people get caught out buying "females" - you can never really 100% rely on it!

 

[betta fish]

I'm afraid I will have to disagree and say that fish is female, I'm pretty much 100% sure, all fins have blunt edges, her pectorals are tiny and the flare although big isn't as big as a males, and the clincher is the ovispot, no male would ever have anything that resembles that one! look through her side in the pic can you see the whiter area? that is her load of eggs, you have a mature female there with an attitude that's all!

 

[Haych]

I'm afraid I will have to disagree and say that fish is female, I'm pretty much 100% sure, all fins have blunt edges, her pectorals are tiny and the flare although big isn't as big as a males, and the clincher is the ovispot, no male would ever have anything that resembles that one! look through her side in the pic can you see the whiter area? that is her load of eggs, you have a mature female there with an attitude that's all!

Now I couldn't load that picture before....

I did wonder about the beard, as it seems love heart shaped - but I thought the shape of the body was male

MewMew - put her ina breeding trap in a males tank and see how she reacts - if she goes bum up/nose down its female!

 

[MewMew42]

haha it seems were all confused!

she/he is still in a trap...

when she/he sees a male, she/he goes into attack mode, flaring and trying to get them....

it seems a few days in a trap has done wonders, calmed down loads when it sees other fish now

 

[StrontiumDog]

From that pic I would say female.

 

[Mauricia]

She doesn't have a full beard in that flare so she looks female, also the body shape looks female. If she were a PK male I don't think the proportions of her fins are correct, she would be an oddly shaped PK male. I'm not an expert at telling between female tail types but she looks like a large Vt of delta female to me. Her body shape doesn't look right to be a young PK male.
You could try conditioning her and then putting her in a breeding trap with a male, see how she behaves and if she gets stripy etc. Even if she's aggressive toward the male it might just mean she's not ready to breed conditioning wise, or she might just always be really aggressive. Do you have her in a sorority? Even if she's female, if she's extremely aggressive you might want to keep her separate.

 

[keithp]

I saw a large female just like yours in petco flaring at a male next to her cup, I was like that's just like the betta posted on fish forums. It seems the REALLY large females act like males more, mabye due to their large size that means they have higher testosterone levels that make them act more like males? See if she will breed well, perhaps large females like her dont get along with males or may bully the male and not breed?

Only reason I say this is i heard a study on cats that if a female kitten in the womb is between 2 male kittens, she will be supplied with more testosterone, and once mature will exhibit more aggressive male-like behavior than usual because of this.

 

[MewMew42]

I too now believe her to be a her!

Ive let her put of the trap now, and shes hasnt bothered with anything so far, just exploration, but ill have to keep an eye out for that penguin tetra, she really hated him when in the trap!

compared to my other females shes huuuuuuuuuuge!

thanks for all the help guys!

I too now believe her to be a her!

Ive let her put of the trap now, and shes hasnt bothered with anything so far, just exploration, but ill have to keep an eye out for that penguin tetra, she really hated him when in the trap!

compared to my other females shes huuuuuuuuuuge!

thanks for all the help guys!