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I suppose it really doesn't matter to me what sex "she" is, but thought I'd throw this out as a question for the sake of curiousity. She's too aggressive to add to my betta community tank (she ripped through my other girls, giving her the name of Jezebel the betrayer), she's too aggressive to even be the centerpiece fish in a quiet community tank (though I've successfully put a male betta into the same tank I tried her in).

This is one of my older rescues... I've had him/her for about ten months now and bought "her" as a female. At one point I was sure, because I thought I saw the oviposter, but in all the time since, I've never been able to spot it again. Because I can't tell which sex she is, we've taken to calling her Jezebel/beau.

You'd think that on such a dark betta, the task would be easy! But NOOOOO... she just doesn't like to give me a good view... I'm about ready to pick her up and turn her over, dangit!

Here's a couple pics of her (sorry, they're not terribly good). In the first pic, that darker spot on her side is leftover from her fighting days ... someone tried to give as good as they got from her. She's got LOVELY coloring and she would have made such a nice addition to my betta girl community tank... but it just didn't work out. Second picture shows off her dorsil fin, which is quite large. Makes me want to say male, but I dunno... I TRUST my LFS, but I guess I don't know diddley about their supplier, so she/he could have been mislabelled.





I've tried everything I can think of to sex Jez, but i just dunno.[/font][/font]

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

Jez makes the largest bubblenests I've EVER seen from a betta, male or female (and I do have some females that nest). She's in a two gallon kritter keeper and I've seen her make a nest that covers nearly the ENTIRE surface of the water, a couple bubbles (about 1/4" thick.

I can't say that I've ever seen her stripe up. She's so dark... She WAS pale when I got her (she was a rescue, and a very tattered one at that - she'd been picked on in a community tank), but soon became very dominant. I've never seen her get breeding stripes... but some of my girls just don't.

I wouldn't try to keep this girl with ANYthing. She attacked the six girls in my betta girl community tank and gave what amounts to a black eye to my two most dominant (pop eye from hitting the gravel in trying to get away from her or from being rammed into).

I tried putting her in my ten gallon tank with female guppies... no dice. The male I put in instead completely ignores the guppy girls. I could try putting her tank next to a males and see how she reacts, but I wouldn't trust her IN a tank with any other fish.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

If she is making a nest I'd say male, but her body looks too plump to be a male...

Either way she/he/it is beautiful great find...heidi

"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

Yeah, there's just so much that confuses me... there's as many male attributes as female, I swear. I've had other females that have nested, so that's not exactly a definitive way to sex... she does have a gill flare, but it's not huge like some males'... but it's not as small as some females'. I've never seen her stripe up, really. Pale a bit, yes. But she seems to have more of a female body despite a more masculine dorsil fin. :%)

I dunno... she's beautiful, but rather aggressive... she'd be such a cool fish if she wouldn't beat to death any fish that came into contact with her. On the other hand, watching her build bubble nests is a cool pastime.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

i'm gonna have to go with a short-tailed male a.k.a. round-tail, and the round-tails are born fighters, w/ veils it'll sometimes take DAYS for the males to kill the other, w/ RT it'll be over in under 10min, i also see no oviposter, making it more likely it's a male

Daka<<<<

Last edited by Dakafall at 11-Apr-2005 19:37

LOL Daka... livebearers have gravid spots... bettas have oviposters.

You're right, however, you can't see the oviposter. Although I do know that some of my girls are difficult to see, because they're lighter colored, you'd think the white oviposter would stand out like a sore thumb on Jez, wouldn't you?

I just don't know. At one point I was convinced she was female... for a while now, though, I've been leaning towards male.

Guess I'll have to see if I can get some better pics. And go stare at her some more.

Edit: And yes, your mention of her fighting abilities does seem apt... she's the most aggressive, best fighter I have. And that's not exactly a compliment! She KNEW how to damage my girls when I introduced her to the betta community tank. The girls tried to run as best as they could, and she was like some possessed assassin on the loose! Went directly for eyes and belly... if I believed in fighting bettas, I'd have a freaking champion on my hands!

Last edited by Kitten at 11-Apr-2005 14:22

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

I bet that it is a male. A few weeks ago, we got a bunch of "round tail" males in at work. Wouldn't you know it, yours looks just like one of them. The looks, plus the aggression and the bubblenest convince me that this fish is male.

---

And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

New picture... and a better one, thankfully. I'd have tried for more angles, but the dang batteries died.

See... this is what confuses me... there's a tiny speck of white that MIGHT be an oviposter. Jez doesn't like to sit still and doesn't like to give me a good angle to inspect her. Bah, and obviously the tank needs to be wiped down.

[/font]

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

He/she is definitely a gorgeous betta

This was my first female. She was a bubblenester and had quite a temperament, although not too bad. She had a large dorsal fin, but her oviposter was easily seen. I really couldn't say for sure about yours.




Theresa_M attached this image:


~~~~~~~~~~~~
There is water at the bottom of the ocean

Kitten, your betta looks just like mine - and I had the same problem I had a thread on here a few weeks ago. I'd say male, just because yours looks the same as mine, and the general consensus was that mine is male.

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Back in the saddle!

That is a male Kitten.I'd bet the house on it.

Small known fact, male bettas can have white spots too.
It happens a lot of heavily inbred varieties. Its considered a fault in showing circles, and generally confuses everyone else. Drives me batty!

The shape and length of those ventrals, that stance, the body shape, the fin length (anal fin moreso than the others, its got a pretty definite plakat shape, albeit without the traditional pointy endy bit) The clincher would be a full 'beard' when flaring.

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Callatya -

Jez does have that gill fringe when flaring, though not as impressive as many of my males. It's sort of an in-between flare... some of my girls have hardly any membrane, and some of my males have HUGE flares. Jez is in the middle. *shrugs*

Her's is mostly under her "chin" while many of my males have a membrane that have huge "sideburns" and extend into a beard worthy of santa himself.

Edit: Calla... remember those two girls I rescued a while back, pretty torn up? You identified one as from doubletail lines... not only is she from DT lines, she IS DT... take a gander at my new thread on them in the Labyrinth lounge if you haven't.

Last edited by Kitten at 12-Apr-2005 13:58

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

Awesome! Glad to know my sketchy genetics know how is actually useful!


if its got the under the chin skin membrane bits, i'm sticking with boy.

you could always try breeding him/her, i'd bet then all those male traits would come out even the "i've seen a girl" shimmy!

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Hmm... when I first got Jez, I assumed "she" was a girl because that's what I'd bought her as. When I added her to my betta girl community, she went nuts... agressive as all get out. Perhaps "he" was overwhelmed by having so many girls to choose from.

Will have to set something up with one of my girls and see what Jez does...

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~