What's This Koi's Gender?

[ZmanArt007]

Hello everyone, I have just been casually exploring my local craigslist and I found an interesting looking koi fish that I might want to purchase.


According to the seller, this fish is 15" long, and he is unsure of the gender. Normally I can usually tell gender in koi but in this photo I'm not so sure. I was wondering if anyone else could use their instinct and expertise to determine the sex of this fish, and also tell me what breed/variety of koi it is. He is selling it for $50 which for a fish this size seems like a good deal, especially if it is female, because I need more females in my pond.

Thanks anyone who can help If you can't tell I don't fault you because I can't either.

 

[fishin4cars]

From what I can see it really appears male to me. The pecs are more triangle looking and the leading ray appears to go almost to the end of the pec fin. Also the body shape looks more male than female. I would say it is an interesting koi, as far as being worth $50, I would say your paying for size and personal taste. I can't tell what it would be called other than a Doitsu. It has no show quality, but plenty of pet quality and would be a different than average koi to own.

 

[Fishylove]

From what I can see it really appears male to me. The pecs are more triangle looking and the leading ray appears to go almost to the end of the pec fin. Also the body shape looks more male than female. I would say it is an interesting koi, as far as being worth $50, I would say your paying for size and personal taste. I can't tell what it would be called other than a Doitsu. It has no show quality, but plenty of pet quality and would be a different than average koi to own.

Larkin, when can you tell by body shape? Is there a certain length thats better as far as being "filled out"? I sure would like to find out what gender my koi are. And what about butterfly koi, are harder to tell the gender?

 

[Tula]

I am of no help....my koi I thought was a male, spawned this Spring

 

[Dave 54]

From what I can see it really appears male to me. The pecs are more triangle looking and the leading ray appears to go almost to the end of the pec fin. Also the body shape looks more male than female. I would say it is an interesting koi, as far as being worth $50, I would say your paying for size and personal taste. I can't tell what it would be called other than a Doitsu. It has no show quality, but plenty of pet quality and would be a different than average koi to own.

As doitsu go this is a very heavily scaled variety and as such pretty much old fashion as scalidge ,goes why because people nowadays go for the leather or slightly scaled varieties.
As to sexing it m,.mmm without looking at the genital vent area its hard to tell .
It's most probably in the catch all thirteeth variety for any koi that dont fit the recognised twelve varieties or classes of koi aka a mongrel .
The are pretty cool fish in that they are tough as boots and as survivours go will be around for many years to come in your pond , price wise 50$ seems quite excessive I think we'd be able to buy one for around half what you paid for it here in the UK
However a good starter koi as its a forgiving fish

Dave

 

[Lisak1]

Gosh! I was waiting for Dave to chime in on the sex - I was sure he would know! I am always trying to figure out if mine are male or female and read all the body shape - pectoral shape stuff and think "they all just look like fish to me!" I guess I need to figure out how to check their private bits!

 

[ZmanArt007]

As doitsu go this is a very heavily scaled variety and as such pretty much old fashion as scalidge ,goes why because people nowadays go for the leather or slightly scaled varieties.
As to sexing it m,.mmm without looking at the genital vent area its hard to tell .
It's most probably in the catch all thirteeth variety for any koi that dont fit the recognised twelve varieties or classes of koi aka a mongrel .
The are pretty cool fish in that they are tough as boots and as survivours go will be around for many years to come in your pond , price wise 50$ seems quite excessive I think we'd be able to buy one for around half what you paid for it here in the UK
However a good starter koi as its a forgiving fish

Dave

Thanks for your help! I haven't bought it so don't worry about me getting ripped off, I was just exploring craigslist and this fish caught my eye. I don't think I am going to purchase it , since @fishin4cars says it's male which is what I suspected. My Male to Female ratio in my pond is at least 3 to 1, so I really don't need more males. I just thought it was a surprisingly rich blue color, a variety that my pond does not have. And as you say the price isn't exactly clearance value. Thanks for the help Dave and Larkin.

 

[Fishylove]

I believe ,from what I've been studying, that females have a fuller body especially do;wn towards the tail? Does that sound right guys?

 

[Dave 54]

Gosh! I was waiting for Dave to chime in on the sex - I was sure he would know! I am always trying to figure out if mine are male or female and read all the body shape - pectoral shape stuff and think "they all just look like fish to me!" I guess I need to figure out how to check their private bits!

Ok Liska1 point taken one way of sexing a koi is to examine the koi's vent area , a female koi has a line running from head to tail hich has another running across it at the tail end .
A male koi does not have this however instead they just have a simple line running from head to tail , thats the way Val and I have always sexed them by .

Dave

 

[JohnHuff]

The only surefire way to tell is during mating season when the males chase the females. Not sure if there are any gay fish though.

 

[Fishylove]

Hahaha!

 

[Dave 54]

The only surefire way to tell is during mating season when the males chase the females. Not sure if there are any gay fish though.

Who knows John non of my own have pink handbags

Dave

 

[fishin4cars]

The only surefire way to tell is during mating season when the males chase the females. Not sure if there are any gay fish though.

This actually can be a quite confusing time. Some females that aren't carrying eggs and are chasing simple to eat and join in the excitement can be mistaken as males. The vent is one of the most accurate ways to tell once they are mature enough. During breeding season felling the gill plates can also be a very accurate way to tell, but not 100% either.

 

[fishin4cars]

Body shape for koi is one of the least accurate ways to sex a koi. I've seen thin fish that never fattened up end up still being females, and I've seen greedy males that plumped up and became lazy and act just like a female. I've been watching the McGurks at Purdin sex theirs by turning them upside down and slightly squeezing them to find milt or eggs. Not much more accurate way to tell what they are IF they do excrete.