How To Tell A Goldfish's Gender...?

Question

OK, so I bought my friend a gold fish today cuz her Bday is Friday, and when i gave it to her, i would like to be able to tell her if he goldfish was a boy or girl... so um, how do i do that? I've read about how the guys have bumps and fatter pec. fins, and the girls are fatter, but this is only during breeding season and for one thing, i have one fish and i need to know now!!!

The goldfish is orange, and it has a semi longish tail .

BTW just remindin u, i have only ONE fish, so i cant compare it to another one...

Answer 1

Here are someways to tell if your goldfish is male or female..
* The female Goldfish are slightly bigger than the males and look
even heavier in the abdomen when they are full of eggs.

* Male Goldfish develop white spots on their gills and pectoral
called "breeding tubercles" during spawning time.

* Males have midline ridges on their undersides beginning from
the back of their pelvic fins and ending at their vent opening.
This feature can be absent or smaller in females.

* Males have firm abdomen while in females; the area between the
pelvic fins and the anal fins is more pliable.

* Male Goldfish have longer and pointed pectorals as well as
stiff fin ray, while females have more rounded pectorals and
shorter, finer front fin rays.

* Male goldfish have smaller and more oval anal openings and the
anal fins are not as thick as that of the female goldfish who has
a larger and rounder anal opening with a slight protrude. The
anal fin is also thicker.

* The spawning time is the easiest time to distinguish the boys
from the girls. The female opening will look larger and more
swollen as the eggs begin to ripen. She would look big and
heavier. Since fish reproduce through external fertilization, you
can make out when a male is ready by the white breeding tubercles
and you can actually push out the milt through his ventral
opening by running a gentle finger along his sides.
Good Luck,
Lucke

Answer 2

Midline ridge: Males develop a ridge on their undersides that starts in back of their pelvic fins and ends at their vent opening. The ridge is absent or much smaller on females.

For short-finned varieties, males have longer, more pointed pectorals with a stiffer leading ray. Females have more rounded pectorals and shorter, finer front fin rays. For long-finned breeds, the fin shape is hard to judge.

You can sex goldfish based on vent shape. A males will be concurve and a female will be convex. (This is the easiest way to tell)

A male common or comet goldfish showing the tubercles on the gill covers.

Answer 3

I think some of the above answerers are playing April Fools jokes on you - color and fin length have nothing to do with the gender.

You'll need to wait until the fish is about a year to a year and a half old to be able to tell. In breeding condition, the males will get tubercles (like little pimples) on the covers over the gills and on the front edges of his side fins. The anal opening will also look different. At other times, the male will just look like a female. And if a female is heavy with eggs, you might be able to tell, but with some of the heavier-bodied types of goldfish, even this can be hard to do.

See photos of tubercles and anal opening for comparison of male and female: http://www.bristol-aquarists.org.uk/goldfish/info/sexing-fs.htm

Answer 4

the only way to tell is when they are in breeding condition, the males develop white bumps on their gill covers. otherwise you would need to do a post mortem. I havent heard of dna sexing for fish, I guess it would be to traumatic for the fish to have a scale removed or something, plus it would be expensive. It sounds like a comet goldfish

Answer 5

The females are fatter because of the eggs. And the males get white tiny spots near their gills when they are about to spawn. Hope this helps.

Answer 6

There is no way of telling goldfish that are juveniles apart it ll take a year or better for them to mature . Then the males have a longer tail fin than females

Answer 7

Well this is a very interesting but difficult question. That would depend on the type of fish and the coloring as well as other characteristics. It's a very general discription. Sorry I can't help, I wouldn't even hknow if you could tell. But for April Fools you can call your friend and say you bought her a fish for her birthday and it died. Then give it too her for her birthday. Only you will know until then that the fish is still alive. HEE HEE HEE

Answer 8

it's very hard to tell... I think in breeding, the male chases the female...

Answer 9

just when it comes to them laying eggs if you can fique that one out youll be rich&famous